"Spare" memoir by the Duke of Sussex (2023)

[Blog Real]

I wonder if someone else he respects (and of course I don’t know who that may be) could help him see that he needs to put an end to this. A therapist he used to see? One of Diana’s sisters? Someone like Zara or Peter? I just don’t know but perhaps someone besides his wife has his ear.

Exactly. Harry and Meghan are in need of a long period of silence to decide what direction they want their lives to take. Continuing this vendetta against the royal family will get them nowhere, and will only further damage people's perception of them.
As for who could help Harry, I have no idea, but I think he must be almost out of touch with any of his family. But maybe Eugenie, who he seems to remain close to, can help him in some way.
This story of Harry keeping pieces of his mother's hair is too bizarre if it's true. Clearly he is in need of urgent help.

 

[duchessrachel]

And how can he claim that he wants privacy and then disclose some extremely intimate personal information? I honestly can't decide whether he's doing it for the money or whether it's all out of spite.

What I have concluded, and it is just my opinion, is that Harry (and Meghan) are having a very public temper tantrum that has lasted for 3 years. They are stomping their feet and screaming their heads off like two 4-year old children because they did not get their way. Queen Elizabeth said "no" to their HIHO plan. They wanted their cake and to eat it too, and she said "no". Harry, nor Meghan, likes being told "no". Well, most people don't, but by the time we are their age, we have matured enough to accept "no" as an answer. Harry and Meghan have not, for whatever reason. Harry is also someone who cannot be reasoned with because in his mind, he is always right. When Tom Bradby asked him about the hypocrisy of revealing personal information about others, he says that his family has been briefing the press. Harry will always have an excuse for why he is right and everyone else is wrong. I believe Harry and Meghan think at some point they will push far enough that they will manage to get a response from the Royal Family. I hope the Royal Family remains silent.

 

[EllieCat]

All this is making the War of the Wales look like a tiny skirmish - this one is more of a nuclear annihilation, and self-administered at that.

 

[Biset]

Ok, can someone please tell me this isn’t true? Did he really say William’s hair loss is alarming and he lost his resemblance to Diana? If that’s true he needs help.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

Ok, can someone please tell me this isn’t true? Did he really say William’s hair loss is alarming and he lost his resemblance to Diana? If that’s true he needs help.

It’s from the excerpt of the book so clearly he said it. He’s just immature and sounds childish. Some people don’t take good looks in the mirror before talking (pot calling the kettle black, comes to mind).

 

[SirGyamfi1]

Here is the scary thought... what if this is only the tip of the iceberg? So far, it doesn't sound like he's gone after his grandparents too hard. Imagine a follow-up memoir...

He doesn’t need a follow up memoir. When all the pieces of the puzzle are put together, we will see the full picture of his silly book. But I mean some of the excerpts are more embarrassing for Harry than for anyone else so he should take all the rope he has till there’s nothing left.

 

[Mbruno]

What I have concluded, and it is just my opinion, is that Harry (and Meghan) are having a very public temper tantrum that has lasted for 3 years. They are stomping their feet and screaming their heads off like two 4-year old children because they did not get their way. Queen Elizabeth said "no" to their HIHO plan. They wanted their cake and to eat it too, and she said "no". Harry, nor Meghan, likes being told "no". Well, most people don't, but by the time we are their age, we have matured enough to accept "no" as an answer. Harry and Meghan have not, for whatever reason. Harry is also someone who cannot be reasoned with because in his mind, he is always right. When Tom Bradby asked him about the hypocrisy of revealing personal information about others, he says that his family has been briefing the press. Harry will always have an excuse for why he is right and everyone else is wrong. I believe Harry and Meghan think at some point they will push far enough that they will manage to get a response from the Royal Family. I hope the Royal Family remains silent.

If they are hoping for a U-turn on the half-in, half-out proposal, the way they have been acting is certainly not the way to get it. I believe they are smart enough to understand that.

Anyway, I don't think Meghan wants half in, half out anymore. She has everything she wanted in California and has no reason to go back to the UK, even part-time. I believe she and Harry would only push again for HIHO if they ran out of money to fund their lavish life. I don't see that happening in the near future with their Netflix, Spotify and book deals.

 

[HRHHermione]

All this is making the War of the Wales look like a tiny skirmish - this one is more of a nuclear annihilation, and self-administered at that.

I disagree with that. The war of the Wales was between the future king and at the time, the future Queen. It was a much bigger deal than a younger son having a temper fit.

This is embarrassing but ultimately not a long term threat to the institution.

 

[Curbside]

The Crown is probably thinking shoot we should have done the real stuff it is better then our fiction

The producers have said there would be no Harry and Meghan in the series, but this stuff is juicy! Maybe the producers will change their minds.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

If they are hoping for a U-turn on the half-in, half-out proposal, the way they have been acting is certainly not the way to get it. I believe they are smart enough to understand that.

Anyway, I don't think Meghan wants half in, half out anymore. She has everything she wanted in California and has no reason to go back to the UK, even part-time. I believe she and Harry would only push again for HIHO if they ran out of money to fund their lavish life. I don't see that happening in the near future with their Netflix, Spotify and book deals.

I wonder if Meghan actually wanted the half-in/half-out role. I think she was going along with Harry, who wanted to keep military patronages. I'm sure that Meghan wanted to keep the platform, but only to amplify her causes and make money. I don't think she really wanted to work for the royal family.

 

[Moran]

I wonder if there's something original in this book at all. The penis part seems to have been nabbed off Meg Cabot's first "royal" book. You know Meghan loves her Princess' Diaries. When I was 16, I giggled when I read something along the lines of, "Thank you, Ms Journalist, for letting all the world know that my dad only has 1 you know what." The Prince of Genovia was described (in a magazine article) as having valiantly fought testicular cancer.

 

[Erin9]

Is it true that he’s saying TQ told him about Philip’s death? I thought the police- or someone- had to wake Harry up in the middle of the night because he wouldn’t pick up his phone. It was documented IIRC.

I find his Balmoral story strange- if I have it right. Charles called Harry to let him know his grandmother was dying. He let Harry come to Balmoral. Harry threw something of a temper tantrum around Meghan coming along to Charles- although what I read seemed a bit convoluted. And then found out when he landed via Meghan/the media that she’d passed. Hmmm…..

I find it difficult to believe TQ “begged” Meghan about anything ever- much less a tiara.

 

[camelot23ca]

I saw this and I’m just thinking, look who’s talking, you literally have bald patches in your hair and don’t have long till you have little hair on your head like a Friar or monk so please look in the mirror before talking. This part is the weird obsession with Diana, he does realize they have the same mother, right? So childish and stupid. Plus William is a man, why would he be obsessed with looking like his mum? She obviously gave birth to two sons not to two girls, so what’s all this?
…

I did laugh at the snarky comment about William’s hair loss and how he supposedly doesn’t look like their mother anymore. It was just one more thing that smacked of jealousy because, hair or not, William still looks a lot like Diana. He’s a man, and he’s now four years older than his mother was when she died - Diana would have physically aged just like everyone else had she gotten the chance - but he has her smile, facial expressions, gestures, everything down to the way his eyes look when he’s listening to someone speak is Diana.

Harry has some physical features from the Spencer family but nothing from Diana herself.

 

[Erin9]

They take just a few minutes. Now that you mention it, that's a detail I'll have to look for when I read the book, because it doesn't make sense.

I’m looking forward to your take on this book. There’s obviously going to be A LOT to unpack.

I personally suspect a lot of things won’t make sense.

 

[Royalist.in.NC]

In addition to the ITV, Good Morning America and 60 Minutes interviews, Harry will also be appearing on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’.

https://deadline.com/2023/01/prince-harry-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-1235212292/

Stephen Colbert is extremely family oriented, Roman Catholic, lost his father and two brothers (I think two) as a child in a plane crash. I cannot see him being sympathetic to Harry at all.

 

[yukari]

It keeps coming. It's not leaking, it's hemorrhaging.

Kate ‘reluctantly’ lent Meghan her lip gloss in ‘awkward moment’: Harry

(...)

The uncomfortable encounter allegedly went down before the Sussexes’ and the Waleses’ Royal Foundation Forum appearance in 2018, when Harry’s new wife asked to borrow Kate’s lip gloss when she forgot hers — an “American thing,” as the Duke of Sussex called it.

“Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube,” Harry wrote. “Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced.”

(...)

Maybe it's just me because I'm Asian (I'll wear mask without being told when I have cold), but in this case I can understand Catherine's reluctance. I may share lotion or sunscreen with my friend, but lip gloss? I don't think so. Especially with someone I don't live with. A bit unhygienic for me, but that's just me.

Prince Harry seemingly accuses William of jealousy over Invictus Games idea

(...)

“He appeared supremely irritated,” the former military pilot writes in his book, out Jan. 10, claiming that William complained it would drain funds from their foundation.


Harry, 38, called his sibling’s issue “absurd” and explained that the financing would come from the Endeavor Fund, a branch he “created specifically for the rehabilitation of veterans,” as well as donors.

(...)

I must say William is a stellar actor because he looked happy enough in his support when he attended the IG in London few years ago.

Prince Harry Claims King Charles III Told Him There Wasn’t ‘Enough Money’ for Meghan Markle: He ‘Couldn’t Stomach’ Someone ‘Shiny’ Stealing the Limelight

(...)

“Pa didn’t financially support Willy and me, and our families, out of any largesse,” the Invictus Games founder wrote in an excerpt from Spare exclusively obtained by Us Weekly. “That was his job. That was the whole deal. We agreed to serve the monarch, go wherever we were sent, do whatever we were told, surrender our autonomy, keep our hands and feet inside the gilded cage at all times, and in exchange the keepers of the cage agreed to feed and clothe us.”

The former military pilot said that he soon came to believe the conflict “wasn’t about money” at all. “Pa might have dreaded the rising cost of maintaining us, but what he really couldn’t stomach was someone new dominating the monarchy, grabbing the limelight, someone shiny and new coming in and overshadowing him,” Harry wrote. “He’d lived through that before, and had no interest in living through it again.”

(...)

I get it, everyone is jealous of Harry and Meghan. They're the second coming, the best thing that ever happen in the history of mankind. Let's see if I keep saying that, maybe at some point I'll believe it and finally understand their "truth".

On second thought, nope I don't think I have strong enough stomach to read this book. Wish you luck, HRHHermione! You're braver than I do.

 

[Curbside]

Harry looks less like his mom, William’s resemblance is stronger. I think harry is the better looking of the brothers, but Harry may get plainer as he catches up to his brother in the hair loss department.

 

[Curbside]

It keeps coming. It's not leaking, it's hemorrhaging.

Kate ‘reluctantly’ lent Meghan her lip gloss in ‘awkward moment’: Harry



Maybe it's just me because I'm Asian (I'll wear mask without being told when I have cold), but in this case I can understand Catherine's reluctant. I may share lotion or sunscreen with my friend, but lip gloss? I don't think so. Especially with someone I don't live with. A bit unhygienic for me, but that's just me.

Prince Harry seemingly accuses William of jealousy over Invictus Games idea



I must say William is a stellar actor because he looked happy enough in his support when he attended the IG in London few years ago.

Prince Harry Claims King Charles III Told Him There Wasn’t ‘Enough Money’ for Meghan Markle: He ‘Couldn’t Stomach’ Someone ‘Shiny’ Stealing the Limelight



I get it, everyone is jealous of Harry and Meghan. They're the second coming, the best thing that ever happen in the history of mankind. Let's see if I keep saying that, maybe at some point I'll believe it and finally understand their "truth".

On second thought, nope I don't think I have strong enough stomach to read this book. Wish you luck, HRHHermione! You're braver than I do.

I would never ask to use someone’s lip gloss, though it is common here. Just ew. Don’t they have assistants to pinch hit in situations like this?

 

[HRHHermione]

Stephen Colbert is extremely family oriented, Roman Catholic, lost his father and two brothers (I think two) as a child in a plane crash. I cannot see him being sympathetic to Harry at all.

He’s also a fundamentally decent and kind man and I can’t see him kicking someone who is down. I think it would have been a lighthearted fun interview before the book leaked. Now? It will be interesting to see if a live interview happens at all. If it does, it is going to be a tough one to set the tone for. No one would have wanted to be the guy who picked on Britney Spears in an interview in 2008 and no one is going to want to be the guy who picks on Harry in this moment.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

He’s also a fundamentally decent and kind man and I can’t see him kicking someone who is down. I think it would have been a lighthearted fun interview before the book leaked. Now? It will be interesting to see if a live interview happens at all. If it does, it is going to be a tough one to set the tone for. No one would have wanted to be the guy who picked on Britney Spears in an interview in 2008 and no one is going to want to be the guy who picks on Harry in this moment.

I haven't seen any positive media for Harry. I wonder if he will pull out of the appearance now.

 

[yukari]

Oh dear!

I have several fractures on my chin already, it has hit the floor so many times over the past couple of days!

I'll need major face surgery when the fourth interview has been published...

Oh you will love this, Muhler! Someone needs to introduce him to shaman Verret, ASAP!

Prince Harry Thinks His ‘Blue Box’ of Princess Diana’s Hair Was a Good Luck Charm for Meghan Markle’s 1st Pregnancy

(...)

The*Duke of Sussex, 38, recalled in his memoir,*Spare, which hits bookshelves on Tuesday, January 10, that he received two signs that he was going to be*a first-time parent. The first one came when he and Meghan, 41, were in Scotland and stumbled upon a group of singing seals while boating.

Harry remembered his wife singing to the animals whom he claimed sang back. “She really is magic, I thought,” he wrote of*the*Suits*alum*in his book,*Us Weekly*can exclusively reveal. “Even the seals know it.”

As the “seal opera” continued, the prince decided to*count the moment as a “good omen”*and stripped down, jumped in the water and swam toward them.

He was later told that it was a “bad idea” to dive into the Scottish sea, which was allegedly “teeming with killer whales.” Harry, however, chose to see it as a “lovely fairytale.”

(...)

Please tell me this whole thing is a set up of some April Mop prank.

 

[Erin9]

"Spare" memoir by the Duke of Sussex (2023)

I would never ask to use someone’s lip gloss, though it is common here. Just ew. Don’t they have assistants to pinch hit in situations like this?

I wouldn’t either. It’s not an American thing to this American. I’m getting tired of everything being explained as an American thing. Not so much.

He also appears to project what he thinks Catherine thought about Meghan joining the family. She had to be “on edge” because she was “ going to be compared to and forced to compete with Meg.”

Apparently everyone was jealous of Meghan. Catherine, William, Charles.

I find Harry’s commentary on him getting money from Charles nasty and bitter.

 

[Moran]

The lip gloss thing sounds like Sarah, Diana and a pair of shoes... I keep waiting for Meghan to explain that she got some infection from the thing.

And no, I'd never borrow a lip gloss from anyone.

 

[Ista]

Outside of middle school or high school, loaning lip gloss is definitely not an "American thing." It may have been in the days before we knew how some viruses can be transmitted, but I don't know of anyone who shares lip gloss or lipstick, and that's been true for years. That doesn't mean there aren't people who do it, but it is not some kind of universal cultural thing.

 

[HRHHermione]

Outside of middle school or high school, loaning lip gloss is definitely not an "American thing." It may have been in the days before we knew how some viruses can be transmitted, but I don't know of anyone who shares lip gloss or lipstick, and that's been true for years. That doesn't mean there aren't people who do it, but it is not some kind of universal cultural thing.

It also feels like forced intimacy, much like mentioning someone’s pregnancy hormones. To me, it feels like common sense that members of the royal family are extremely private for their own protection and that breaking through that takes time and a gradual building of trust. Meghan seems to have expected instant family intimacy, which would have been very hard to navigate, probably on both sides.

 

[Erin9]

"Spare" memoir by the Duke of Sussex (2023)

I haven't seen any positive media for Harry. I wonder if he will pull out of the appearance now.

I don’t understand how Harry and Meghan could have thought THIS book was a good idea. I presume Meghan did too. They’ve made it clear repeatedly how in sync they are.

I haven’t heard anything positive about it either. Mostly that it’s a hideous breach of his family’s privacy. Bitter. Nasty. Disturbing in places. TMI.

 

[chelly]

I wouldn’t either. It’s not an American thing to this American. I’m getting tired of everything being explained as an American thing. Not so much.

He also appears to project what he thinks Catherine thought about Meghan joining the family. She had to be “on edge” because she was “ going to be compared to and forced to compete with Meg.”

Apparently everyone was jealous of Meghan. Catherine, William, Charles.

I find Harry’s commentary on him getting money from Charles nasty and bitter.

Why would she even have to compete. Catherine is probably happy people don't campare her to Diana anymore. (honestly I can't remember if she was compared to Diana)

what is going on in Harry's head nothing in the book makes sense.

Its like he read all the tabloids that were around during his Mom's time and went "oh must be the same now".

 

[Prinsara]

He’s also a fundamentally decent and kind man and I can’t see him kicking someone who is down. I think it would have been a lighthearted fun interview before the book leaked. Now? It will be interesting to see if a live interview happens at all. If it does, it is going to be a tough one to set the tone for. No one would have wanted to be the guy who picked on Britney Spears in an interview in 2008 and no one is going to want to be the guy who picks on Harry in this moment.

Stephen does very serious interviews too. That's why he's so good. And he can absolutely tell Harry "I know what it's like". Maybe even be helpful. He's up for the job and I look forward to seeing how it goes.

 

[Erin9]

According to Harry- not only had William and Catherine heard of Suits, they were huge fans of it, prior to Harry dating Meghan. I find that almost impossible to believe. Most Americans were unaware of the show. It was a minor cable TV show.

 

[rmay286]

what is going on in Harry's head nothing in the book makes sense.

Its like he read all the tabloids that were around during his Mom's time and went "oh must be the same now".

Having watched much of their Netflix documentary, and now reading the excerpts from this book, I have come to the conclusion that what Harry "wants" is to re-enact his mother's story 30 years later. He wants he and Meghan to be the "second Diana."

Yes, I think he sounds jealous of William and probably is also doing this for money, but Diana seems to loom very large in his thoughts at all times.

I think the constant portrayal of himself and Meghan as rising stars, and victims of everyone else's jealousy, are Harry's attempt to take a page out of Diana's playbook. A popular conception of Diana (I am seeing it in The Crown) is that Diana was crushed by an unloving royal family and the strictures of "the institution" and that she had to be freed from the royal family to become the glowing, globally loved star she became in her final years.

Somehow, I think Harry must believe that if he drives home to everyone how awfully he was treated by his family, popular opinion will turn towards him and Meghan and the world will adore them the way they did Diana.

Obviously there may be other, more mercenary/vindictive reasons for this book, but the book seems like such a mess I can only guess that some misguided attempt to emulate Diana's life story is one of the core motivations.