Prince Harry's army instructor discloses 'Spare is based on fantasy'

Prince Harry's dramatic narrative of a "suicide" training flight is an absolute dream according to the man who was sitting next to him.

In his autobiography, the king states that an Army instructor intentionally stalled their Slingsby T67 Firefly propeller plane without warning.

However, ex-Sergeant Major Michael Booley says that every detail of training flights is discussed ahead of time.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "I am staggered by this. In shock even."

His straightforward account of the incident raises the suspicion that Harry has concocted yet another hoax after a number of the assertions in his book were found to be false.

The prince wrote in his controversial bestseller: "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," he said.

"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."

But Michael – who ranks father-of-two Harry in his top five students – dismisses the prince’s tale, saying: "Whilst the book compliments me, the recollection of the sorties and lessons is inaccurate, I’m afraid. It’s important to highlight that nothing in the cockpit comes as a surprise."

"Every sortie is thoroughly briefed beforehand, every single aspect."

"The sortie is flown exactly as per that brief. The only time there are surprises is later in the syllabus, not as stated in the book, when emergencies are introduced."

"Engine failures are practised before the first solo obviously, in case the student suffers one.” Michael, 57, served in the military for 33 years and taught the Duke of Sussex to pilot the Firefly in 2009."