Prince Harry Spare: Air New Zealand exposes two holes in claims about Meghan Markle’s father Thomas

Fresh questions have been raised over the accuracy of Prince Harry’s explosive memoir after he claimed he booked a flight which the airline says never existed.

In his tell-all autobiography, Spare, Harry wrote that Meghan purchased a first-class ticket from Mexico to Britain for Thomas Markle so he could escape concerns about harassment in his adopted homeland.

That ticket was with Air New Zealand, the Duke of Sussex claimed.

‘We told him, leave Mexico right now: A whole new level of harassment is about to rain down on you, so come to Britain. Now,’ an excerpt from Spare revealed.

‘Air New Zealand, first class, booked and paid for by Meg.’

But Air New Zealand has said it has never operated flights between Mexico and the United Kingdom – and it does not offer a first class service. 

‘We’ve never had flights between Mexico and the UK. And we only have Business Premier,’ an Air NZ spokesperson told the  New Zealand Herald. 

Harry claimed in Spare, that Meghan purchased a first class Air NZ ticket from Mexico to Britain for Thomas Markle so he could escape harassment in his adopted homeland

Before and after Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May 2018, Mr Markle was the subject of media scrutiny.

There was speculation about whether he would attend the wedding at Windsor Castle.

Prince Harry’s tell-all autobiography Spare was officially launched in the UK at midnight on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning in Australia and New Zealand 

The book reveals that the Sussexes rebuffed the late Queen’s suggestion that Meghan should fly to Mexico try and salvage her relationship with her father (pictured)

The official reason he did not attend is that he was recovering from heart surgery

The book reveals that the Sussexes rebuffed the late Queen’s suggestion that Meghan should fly to Mexico and try to salvage her relationship with her father.

Other questions of the bombshell memoir’s accuracy have been raised after eagle-eyed readers on social media found other inaccuracies. 

In Spare, the duke writes of his ‘great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’, King Henry VI who founded Eton College and died in 1471 – despite the fact Henry VI’s direct lineage ended after his son, Edward of Westminster, died as a childless teenager at the Battle of Tewkesbury. 

 In Spare, the duke writes of his ‘great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’, King Henry VI (above) who founded Eton College and died in 1471

Historians and experts slammed the inaccuracy and lack of fact-checking for a non-fiction project that cost a reported £16million ($20million)

Prince Harry’s actual great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was King George III, who reigned from 1760 and 1811, more than three centuries after Henry VI died. 

Historians were quick to take to social media to question the accuracy of Harry’s link to Henry VI, the last of the Lancastrian dynasty.

Royal correspondent Patricia Treble pointed out the genealogical error and the fact Henry VI had no descendants after his son’s death in 1471.

Others pointed the blame for the Henry VI error at the memoir’s ghostwriter, award-winning American journalist and author J.R. Moehringer. 

The duke also bizarrely claimed he was gifted an Xbox by his aunt, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, for his 13th birthday in 1997 – despite the fact the best-selling device was first released in the United States four years later in 2001. 

Harry’s link to Henry VI was debunked by experts taking to social media

See also  PLAYER RATINGS: Glenn Maxwell stars with the bat and and in the field but Steve Smith struggles

He writes: ‘I tore at the wrapping paper, the ribbon. I peered inside… It was an Xbox. I was pleased. I loved video games.

‘That’s the story, anyway. It’s appeared in many accounts of my life, as gospel, and I have no idea if it’s true. Pa said Mummy hurt her head, but perhaps I was the one with brain damage?’

The Duke’s retelling of how he learned about the death of the Queen Mother has also been questioned, with many arguing he had been Klosters, Switzerland, on the weekend his grandmother died, not at Eton College in Windsor, England. 

The Duke of Sussex wrote in painstaking detail of a call he received while studying at Eton College telling him his great grandmother had died on March 30, 2002.

He writes: ‘At Eton, while studying, I took the call. I wish I could remember whose voice was at the other end; a courtier’s I believe. I recall that it was just before Easter, the weather bright and warm, light slanting through my window, filled with vivid colours.’

Resurfaced photographs appear to place the prince in Klosters, Switzerland, the weekend the Queen Mother died

Prince Harry sits in a car as he and his brother, Prince William and his father, Prince Charles head for home from a skiing trip in Klosters

Princes William and Harry and their father Prince Charles with The Queen Mother during celebrations to mark her 101st birthday August 4, 2001

However, resurfaced photographs show Harry posing  alongside his brother William and father Charles in a media call on March 29, having recently shrugged off a bout of glandular fever in time to hit the slopes. 

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline: ‘It seems from the evidence, that he was undoubtedly in Klosters at when the Queen Mother died.

‘This portrait of being at Eton, ”the weather bright and warm, light slanting… vivid colours” is therefore inaccurate.’

Spare was officially launched in Australia on Wednesday, although the launch was sparsely attended. 

It also includes claims that the Prince of Wales physically attacked his brother and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales. 

The Today show reporter Gabrielle Boyle was filming a live cross from the Dymocks bookstore in Sydney’s CBD on Wednesday morning when she joked she would need a ‘stiff drink’ to get through the Duke of Sussex’s book.

Today show reporter Gabrielle Boyle (pictured) couldn’t resist taking a swipe at Prince Harry on the day his highly anticipated memoir Spare was released in Australia

The segment began with Today host Lara Vella asking Boyle: ‘Gabby, book shops here are hoping for long lines. Is anyone outside yet?’

Boyle laughed awkwardly as she looked around at the deserted street, and replied: ‘Well, not yet, Lara. It’s a few hours [to go] yet.’ 

Later, she said Dymocks was offering customers a free hot drink with every purchase, before adding pointedly: ‘I reckon if I had to read that entire book, I would need a free stiff drink.’ 

The memoir currently tops the list of best-selling books in Australia with the website Amazon.

Spare was released at midnight on Tuesday in the UK and publishers claimed it was already the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever.