Air New Zealand decked Great Britain’s Prince Harry after seeing a claim he made about them in his book “Spare” that they said was demonstrably false.
In the book, Harry claims that his wife, Meghan Markle, bought a first-class ticket on the airline from Mexico to Great Britain for her father Thomas because she was concerned about media harassment.
“We told him, leave Mexico right now: A whole new level of harassment is about to rain down on you, so come to Britain,” Harry, the Duke of Sussex, wrote in the book according to NDTV. “Air New Zealand, first class, booked and paid for by Meg.”
But Air New Zealand said that it had never operated a flight between Mexico and Great Britain and offers Business Premier service rather than first class. “We’ve never had flights between Mexico and the UK. And we only have Business Premier,” a spokesman told the New Zealand Herald.
The airline then tweaked Harry and his wife, tweeting, “Introducing #SussexClass. Apparently coming soon.”
Introducing #SussexClass 👑 Apparently coming soon 👀
— Air New Zealand ✈️ (@FlyAirNZ) January 12, 2023
British commentator Piers Morgan has ripped Harry for the alleged lies he has promoted in the controversial memoir.
“As I have said many times, and reiterate now, Harry and Meghan must be stripped of all their remaining titles immediately. And they shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the coronation in May,” Morgan said. “They’ve made their treacherous bed, and they can lie in it, just as they lie about everything else.”
Whoever serves as the head of the British monarchy also serves as the sovereign and head of state in New Zealand, which is part of the Commonwealth of Nations, now headed by Great Britain’s King Charles. New Zealand’s status as part of the British Empire was established in 1840 in the Treaty of Waitangi between Queen Victoria and the native Maori chiefs.
The Commonwealth of Nations, formerly the British Commonwealth of Nations, includes 56 independent and equal countries. There are no mutual legal obligations; they are connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. Gabon and Togo are the most recent countries to join the group, in 2022.
Much of how the Commonwealth works was established during a conference in the early 20th century. “At the 1926 conference, Britain and the Dominions agreed that they were all equal members of a community within the British Empire. They all owed allegiance to the British king or queen, but the United Kingdom did not rule over them. This community was called the British Commonwealth of Nations or just the Commonwealth,” the Commonwealth of Nations website explains.