Prince Harry's army instructor says he feels 'betrayed' over report about flight training
Prince Harry's army instructor has hit out at a report that claimed the Duke of Sussex's memoir contained inaccuracies about a training flight.
Former Sergeant Major Michael Booley said he felt "betrayed" by an article in the Sunday Mirror that claimed comments by Harry about a flight training exercise in his new book were inaccurate.
Quoting Mr Dooley, the headline of the article claimed Harry's account of a training flight in his autobiography was a "complete fantasy".
But Mr Dooley later said he felt "let down" by the article, and insisted that Harry was an "exceptional student".
Watch: Prince Harry's military service on the frontline
In Spare, Harry recalls a training exercise on board a Slingsby T67 Firefly propeller plane with Mr Dooley.
He writes in the book: "On one of our first flights together, with no warning, Booley threw the aircraft into a stall.
"I felt the left wing dip, a sickening feeling of disorder, of entropy, and then, after several seconds that felt like decades, he recovered the aircraft and levelled the wings.
“I stared at him. What in the absolute—? Was this an aborted suicide attempt? No, he said gently. This was the next stage in my training.”
Read more: The non-royals Harry takes a swipe at in his book
Mr Dooley told the Sunday Mirror that he was "staggered" by Harry's recollection, saying that all aspects of training flights are discussed beforehand.
However, Mr Dooley wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he was unhappy with how his comments had been reported.
In his Facebook post, he said: "Not once did I say anything derogatory about Prince Harry and I certainly never said it was 'complete fantasy' as the article headlines would have you believe.
"I feel let down and betrayed."
In his post, he wrote: "Out of the blue, I was contacted by the press to be made aware they were writing articles and as I was named in Harry's book Spare I was offered an opportunity to comment on it.
"As I had not seen it, I was then provided with an inaccurate version of the book (translated) and in response I expressed my concerns about any possible detrimental narratives from the outset. I later saw the English version and highlighted the differences to the press.
"I made it absolutely clear that Harry was an exceptional student and I had nothing but the utmost respect for him.
"I highlighted some inaccuracies in the book, in particular reference to the flying sorties, but felt that they were probably not Harry's words and highly likely to be dramatised due to the fact that the book was ghostwritten."
Mr Dooley does not detail other inaccuracies beyond the headline, though he does say he claimed he said he "would not approve of anything derogatory" being said about Harry.
The online version of the Sunday Mirror article removed the phrase "complete fantasy" from its headline on Monday.
The Sunday Mirror declined to comment when approached by Yahoo News UK.
Watch: Harry's memoir becomes fastest selling non-fiction book
