Eton College and the Royal Family have both moved swiftly to rebuff an accusation against Prince Harry that he cheated on a piece of coursework while at the prestigious school.
A former Eton teacher secretly recorded a brief conversation with Harry in which, she claims, he admits that he only wrote a tiny fraction of a certain piece of coursework and that she did the bulk of it under pressure from her departmental head.
A section of the tape has now been presented in court by the art teacher, Sarah Forsyth, as part of her evidence that she was unfairly dismissed by the college. In it, the Prince can allegedly be heard saying he had only written “a tiny bit” of the work. “I was like, a sentence in it,” he is supposed to have said.
The project involved was significant because it counted towards the Prince’s final A-level results, enabling him to gain a place at Sandhurst, where he is due to start his military training in January.
The Prince of Wales’ press office has objected to the fact that only a small section of the tape was presented in court, and says, "The tape was made when Harry was stopped on his way to an exam and secretly recorded by a teacher. It contains barely audible half-sentences and appears to have been edited. It is difficult to hear what Harry is saying, and what he is referring to. The fact remains that Harry did not cheat. The allegations have been independently investigated and proven unfounded."
Eton, meanwhile, where both Prince William and Prince Harry studied, has rejected Ms Forsyth’s claims out of hand, saying that she was dismissed because her work was not up to standard. The case continues.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
