In his memoir, Spare, Harry claimed he was “stopped cold” during a heated discussion with William because he used a “secret code” they had reserved for “times of extreme crisis”.
Harry recalled how his brother forced him to look into his eyes so he could tell him that he loved him and wanted him to be happy.
The royal claimed that he told William he loved him too but that his “stubbornness is extraordinary”. To which William responded: “Harold you must listen to me, I just want you to be happy, Harold, I swear, I swear on mummy’s life.”
He said: “I pulled away, refused to meet his gaze. He forced me to look into his eyes. ‘Listen to me Harold, listen, I love you Harold, I want you to be happy’, the words flew out of my mouth, ‘I love you too, but your stubbornness is extraordinary’, ‘And yours isn’t?’ I pulled away again.
“He grabbed me again, twisting me to maintain eye contact. Harold you must listen to me, I just want you to be happy, Harold, I swear, I swear on mummy’s life’.”
“He stopped. I stopped. Pa stopped.”
Harry explained that the reference to the late Princess Diana was the “universal password to be used only in times of extreme crisis.”
Harry said: “He’d gone there, he’d used the secret code, the universal password, ever since we were boys those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis, ‘on mummy’s life’.
“For nearly 25 years we’d reserved that soul-crushing vow for times when one of us needed to be heard, to be believed quickly, for times when nothing else would do.
“It stopped me cold, as it was meant to. Not because he’d used it, but because it didn’t work. I simply didn’t believe him.”
