Prince Harry accuses brother William of 2019 physical attack: report

New York (AFP) - Britain's Prince Harry recounts in his new book how he was physically "attacked" by his older brother Prince William during an argument in 2019, the Guardian reported Wednesday. 

According to the newspaper, the story of the incident appears in Harry's new memoir "Spare," which is due to be released later this month amid an ongoing row within the British royal family. 

Harry, 38, writes that during a disagreement in the kitchen of his London home, William called his wife Meghan Markle "difficult," "rude" and "abrasive," before tackling him to the ground as the pair continued to argue, the Guardian said. 

"He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me," the Guardian quotes Harry's book as saying.

Harry then told his older brother to leave. William looked "regretful, and apologized," Harry recalled, according to the newspaper. 

The daily quoted the exchange between the two princes from the book: William "turned and called back: 'You don’t need to tell Meg about this.'

'You mean that you attacked me?'

'I didn’t attack you, Harold,'" William responded, seeming to use a nickname for Harry. 

The latest reveal about the brothers' tumultuous relationship comes as their father King Charles prepares for his coronation in May following the September death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II at age 96.

Harry and Meghan, 41, lifted the lid on their experiences in the British royal family in a Netflix docuseries last month about the reasons behind their stunning 2020 departure for North America.

In it, they blamed much of their unhappiness on racist media reports and tabloid harassment, some of which they claim the family instigated. 

Their move to California, Meghan's home state, has made the two unpopular in Britain, where they are often portrayed by the media as selfish.

In excerpts of a television interview to ITV in the UK and CBS in the United States out this week ahead of the book release, Harry said he wants "a family, not an institution."

"I would like to get my father back. I would like to get my brother back," Harry said.