Liz Hurley has responded to rumors that she was the one who took Prince Harry’s virginity, which circulated after the release of his memoir, Spare, last year, calling the speculation “ridiculous.”
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the 58-year-old actress and model addressed the topic when asked about Harry and the rumor.
In his record-breaking memoir, the prince mentioned having his first sexual experience with an older woman in a field near King Charles III’s country home when he was a teenager. Following this revelation, online speculation surfaced about the identity of the woman, with some social media users suggesting it could be Hurley.
“What did you think of the speculation after Prince Harry’s book Spare was published that you were the beautiful older woman he lost his virginity to in the countryside?” Cohen inquired.
“That was absurd,” she replied. “He said: ‘She was English, she was older than me, it was in Gloucestershire.’ People were saying: ‘Oh, it must be Elizabeth!’ It was ridiculous.”
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“It was ridiculous,” Hurley continued. “It’s like saying: ‘He’s good-looking, he’s American.’ And then they say: ‘Oh, that must be Andy Cohen!'”
She further stated, “I have never crossed paths with him. Never in my life.”
Representatives of Prince Harry were approached by Newsweek for comment via email.
In his book, Harry described his first sexual experience as an “embarrassing incident” from his youth, with the somewhat graphic account becoming the subject of late-night jokes and online ridicule following the release of Spare.
“Embarrassing incident with an older woman,” Harry wrote. “She was very fond of horses and treated me like a young stallion. It was a quick encounter, after which she patted my backside and sent me off. Among the many wrong aspects of it: it happened in a grassy field behind a bustling pub.”
After the publication of Spare in January 2023, a former staff member at King Charles’ estate in Gloucestershire, England, claimed in an interview with a U.K. newspaper that she was the woman mentioned in Harry’s story.
Sasha Walpole told The Sun: “I am the woman who took Harry’s virginity. It was a spontaneous moment between friends. The passion and excitement stemmed from the fact that it was forbidden. Things quickly escalated.”
This recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live is not the first time Hurley has refuted claims linking her to Harry.
In an interview with The Times of London in December 2022, Hurley denied any involvement in response to the prince’s upcoming memoir. “Not me. Not true. Ha!” she stated.
Recently, both Hurley and Harry have been connected through legal matters. They are among the claimants in a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publishers of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday in Britain. The publisher has denied the accusations.
In 2023, a judge ruled that the group could proceed with their cases to trial.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter based in London. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his articles on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
If you have questions about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you’d like our seasoned royal correspondents to address, email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
