'Prince Harry had blood test to prove Charles was father'

Diana, who died in 1997, did not tell Harry why his blood was being taken, the Sun newspaper said in extracts from a book by Simone Simmons, an "energy healer" billed as a former close friend and confidante of the princess.

Senior royals, notably Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, feared that their son, Prince Charles, who was married to Diana, might not have been the real father of Harry, who was born in September 1984.

Diana had previously had a passionate affair with army officer Major James Hewitt, and there had been rumours that Harry -- who, like Hewitt, has red hair -- was the product of that relationship.