Harry opens up in bombshell memoir Spare about cocaine use and losing virginity to older woman behind pub

In his book Spare, Harry said he had "taken cocaine" during a shooting weekend by the summer of 2002 when he was 17 and did "a few more lines" on other occasions, according to the Times.

The 38-year-old wrote that it was not "fun and it did not make me feel as happy as it seemed to make others but it did make me feel different and that was my main goal. To feel. To be different".

"I was a 17-year-old willing to try almost anything that would upset the established order. At least that was what I was trying to convince myself of," he said.

The duke also writes about how he lost his virginity to an unnamed older woman at the same age, according to the Daily Mail.

He claims it took place in a field behind a "very busy pub" and that the woman treated him like a "young stallion".

The book outlines how one of the Royal Family's bodyguards Marko paid him a visit when he was still a pupil at Eton College in Windsor and told the Prince he had been sent to "find out the truth".

Harry writes: "I suspected he was referring to my recent loss of virginity, a humiliating episode with an older woman who liked macho horses and who treated me like a young stallion.

"I mounted her quickly, after which she spanked my ass and sent me away.

"One of my many mistakes was letting it happen in a field, just behind a very busy pub. No doubt someone had seen us."

The book reveals that the bodyguard was actually checking up on the young prince because Charles' press office had been informed that a newspaper had evidence of him taking drugs, which Harry said was "all lies".

In an interview with the Times in December, actress and model Liz Hurley denied rumours that she had taken Harry's virginity, saying: "Not me. Not guilty. Ha!"

The memoir is not the first time Harry has spoken about taking drugs.

In his 2021 interview with the US broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, he said: "I was willing to drink. I was willing to take drugs.

"I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling."

In 2002, Charles sent Harry to Featherstone Lodge, a drug rehabilitation clinic in Peckham, south London, after he admitted to smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol.