A ‘dangerous lie’: Prince Harry unhappy with Taliban kills detail in book Spare during US late night interview

Harry quick to address Taliban controversy during his appearance on late night talk show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
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Harry, Duke of Sussex, has revealed the extent of his unhappiness regarding details in his book, Spare, on the number of Taliban soldiers he killed during his military stint. Harry was a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan and was deployed twice from 2007 to 2008 and then again from 2012 to 2013.

In his book, Harry ‘detailed’ the exact number of Taliban fighters he killed (25), and referred to those fighters as ‘chess pieces.’ The admission has led to members of the Taliban calling for Harry to stand trial for war crimes and became one of the biggest talking points after excerpts of the book leaked to media before its official release on Tuesday.

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But during his appearance on US programme The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Harry discussed that he was unhappy that his exploits in Afghanistan made it into his book in such the way it did. “The last few days have been hurtful and challenging, not being able to do anything about those leaks,” he admitted to the host.

“Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan. If I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it’s a lie. It’s really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it... My words are not dangerous - but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family. That is a choice they’ve made."

Spare was ghost written by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist J.R Mohringer, and despite the controversy it has caused, including continued excerpts that attack Harry’s brother, Prince William, the book has become the UK’s fastest selling piece of non-fiction.