Speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, the “older” woman detailed in Prince Harry’s memoir Spare has come forward to confirm that it was she who took the young royal’s virginity in a field behind a busy pub in Wiltshire in July 2001.
Forty-year-old Sasha Walpole – who is two years older than Prince Harry – told the publication: “I am the woman who took Harry’s virginity. It was literally wham-bam between two friends.”
The Sun went on to report that Mrs Walpole admitted that the encounter occurred after she and Harry had consumed 10 shots of tequila, Baileys and sambuca.
“The sex was passionate and sparky because we shouldn’t have been doing it,” she said. “One thing just quickly led to another. We ended up on the floor.”
The one-off encounter took place in a meadow behind the car park of the historic Vine Tree Inn in Norton, Wiltshire, in July 2001.
Mrs Walpole and Prince Harry reportedly knew each other from when she was employed as a stable girl at Highgrove, the country retreat of the then Prince Charles. The evening in question was actually the occasion of Mrs Walpole’s 19th birthday, which was being celebrated at the pub – and the pair became intimate in the meadow after leaving the party.
Afterwards Harry hid in a red phone box to avoid being seen, before one of Ms Walpole’s friends delivered a protection officer to the young prince in her blue Ford Fiesta.
Mrs Walpole, now a married mum of two, said: “We went outside and both climbed a three-bar fence to the field. We were quite drunk at this point. I gave Harry a cigarette. I lit mine and then his.
“We finished our cigarettes – Marlboro Lights – and it just happened. He started to kiss me. He was wearing boxers. There was no chatting, no words. It was exciting that it was happening. It was exciting that it was happening like the way it was. We were away for 15 minutes but the sex was about five minutes.
“We didn’t set out to do it and it wasn’t premeditated. He was young. We had been purely friends and it was a little bit naughty, in the sense that it shouldn’t have been happening.
“It wasn’t ‘Prince Harry’ to me. It was Harry, my friend – and something that got a little bit out of control. It just so happened that he was a prince.
“Afterwards I did grab his bum and gave him a slap. It was with one hand. He had a lovely peachy bum – but he was young.”
Mrs Walpole agreed to speak to The Sun after being left shocked by Harry’s disclosures in his book, and also went on to explain why she came forward.
“No one warned me about the night being included in the book – and Harry, or his people, could have found me to tell me if they had wanted to do so,” she said. “I lead a peaceful life – I didn’t invite this.”
“I don’t understand why he went into such detail. He could have said he lost his virginity and left it at that. But he described how it happened, in a field behind a pub.
“That’s fine if you’re not the other person involved. But if you’re me, then you suddenly feel as if your world is getting a little bit smaller. He has done this to my privacy.
“I was going to keep my head down and not talk about it. If it wasn’t in the book, none of this wouldn’t be happening.
“I can sit quietly and hope it goes away, but then it is like a ticking timebomb, and you’re looking over your shoulder.”
To listen to the entire interview with The Sun, head here.
Image: The Sun
