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

[Noble Consort Ming]

He could 'stop using' his titles but under British law he can't 'relinquish' his titles.

What if he also renounces his British citizenship?

 

[Iluvbertie]

I have not found any evidence of a British peer taking out US citizenship and it may very well because of this issue - where a British peer can't give up their title unless within 12 months of inheriting it and the US's insistence that a person gives up that title.

The UK isn't going to change its laws for the US and the US isn't going to change its laws for the UK - both are Sovereign nations and have the right to their own laws.

Interestingly there are people, like Prince Albert of Monaco and his sisters who have titles are and US citizens (Albert has renounced but I can't find any evidence that his sisters have done so). Of course they were born with dual citizenship through their parents.

Queen Noor of Jordan hasn't formally renounced her citizenship but claims it was lost automatically when she took out Jordanian citizenship.

What if he also renounces his British citizenship?

Makes no difference to his titles. A number of peers have renounced their British citizenship over the years but that doesn't remove their titles. You don't have to be a British citizen to be a peer of the UK or in the line of succession to the British throne.

Some British peers were citizens of the US or other countries when they inherited and one or two then renounced their US citizenship to take up their seat in the House of Lords but such a seat is no longer something that comes with an hereditary title so no longer an issue. Others didn't bother as they weren't interested in sitting in the House of Lords.

 

[Ghost]

I have not found any evidence of a British peer taking out US citizenship

Queen Noor of Jordan hasn't formally renounced her citizenship but claims it was lost automatically when she took out Jordanian citizenship.

Some countries do not accept dual citizenship, Jordan might be one of them. I know that in the time of the Iron Curtain Germany was not accepting dual citizenship.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Some countries do not accept dual citizenship, Jordan might be one of them. I know that in the time of the Iron Curtain Germany was not accepting dual citizenship.

I know. Australia didn't for a long time which caused a lot of issues for the many Greeks who settled here as Greece didn't allow people to renounce citizenship and Australia wouldn't accept dual citizenship (we do now but this was back in the 60s/70s).

 

[Ghost]

I know. Australia didn't for a long time which caused a lot of issues for the many Greeks who settled here as Greece didn't allow people to renounce citizenship and Australia wouldn't accept dual citizenship (we do now but this was back in the 60s/70s).

I went to google “dual citizenship Jordan” and the first link was from the US embassy in Jordan. It has a very interesting presentation of different situations, both regarding Jordanians and other coutries’ citizens. Jordan (now, at least) accepts dual citizenship, as do the US, and as the US they are wary of obtaining their citizenship and keeping an original one. Interesting read, it gave me more understanding and I don’t know if Harry would make a good candidate to obtain the American one.

 

[Claire]

I strongly disagree with Harry's point of view but I think he truly believes that William allowed his staff to plant negative stories about Meghan - the first being the row over bridesmaids dresses. They feel that William and Catherine were jealous of Meghan and were trying to make her unpopular. I think they believe that William and Catherine should apologize for that.

Some people on this board will agree with Meghan and Harry, but I doubt that anyone besides William knows. There would have been other witnesses at fitting, including staff and the mothers of the other girls. Regardless, they have blown that one story out of proportion. It only got "legs" when other allegations that Meghan was difficult surfaced. Again, I don't think William and/or Catherine were behind these stories, we know that Valentine Low actually witnesses Meghan snapping at her staff.

I have actually thought about this - and I agree. Harry believes something that might be completely untrue. A number of journalists - have told me that they were told by staff about many things - most they have never published. Disgruntled staff talk. But were they directly brief by the Communication department - no. However, some stories are stopped or advised by lawyers - yep. The BP lawyers' phone the newspaper and tell them to not to publish as they will be sued. So, it is then taken under advisement. It doesn't take much to put two and two together in most cases. Also, the newspapers share info that they are not allowed to publish with other publications - especially when they have additional information to continue the story later.
Personally, I think Harry knows what happened previously and assumes that it is happening now. But that is just what it is - an assumption.

The flower girl story could easily have come from people at the store. Camilla Tominey is very clear that the flower girl story as well as the treatment of staff in Australia were not from BP. The only story that has always concerned me is the Wedding Tiara.

I have been told that Harry (Meghan) wanted the palace to approach Ofcom about the press coverage - with the direct line that it was racist. You can understand why the palace said no here - it was directly about her treatment of her father, the tiara, the staff leaving and schism of the offices and the constant holding of a baby bump and the complaint to the board of press complaints would be it was racial motivated bias reporting. How were they to make the argument? I think this is what was told to them - how can they make that link?

 

[Lilyflo]

Re: the HIHO finances, which seem to be the root of many grievances and will probably be discussed in Spare and the interviews.

I think it's deemed acceptable for working royals to earn revenue from enterprises that don't exploit their royal status. The late Queen's racehorses, the Duchy of Cornwall and Princess Anne's estate can generate income without promoting the owners. If Harry and Meghan bought land/property and rented it out for profit, there wouldn't be an issue. It appears that the issue with their HIHO was that they planned to trade on their royal titles for personal profit while also representing the monarch, which wouldn't reflect well on the integrity of the monarchy so the request was denied.

 

[Hallo girl]

Re: the HIHO finances, which seem to be the root of many grievances and will probably be discussed in Spare and the interviews.

I think it's deemed acceptable for working royals to earn revenue from enterprises that don't exploit their royal status. The late Queen's racehorses, the Duchy of Cornwall and Princess Anne's estate can generate income without promoting the owners. If Harry and Meghan bought land/property and rented it out for profit, there wouldn't be an issue. It appears that the issue with their HIHO was that they planned to trade on their royal titles for personal profit while also representing the monarch, which wouldn't reflect well on the integrity of the monarchy so the request was denied.

You have summed it up nicely. If anything Gatcombe and the Duchy provide employment. Annes husband was a senior naval officer for many years and worked within the MOD. Did not do any royal duties.

 

[Denville]

Re: the HIHO finances, which seem to be the root of many grievances and will probably be discussed in Spare and the interviews.

I think it's deemed acceptable for working royals to earn revenue from enterprises that don't exploit their royal status. The late Queen's racehorses, the Duchy of Cornwall and Princess Anne's estate can generate income without promoting the owners. If Harry and Meghan bought land/property and rented it out for profit, there wouldn't be an issue. was denied.

Exactly. If a working royal does some private business, it is done under restrictions and Henry and Meghan wanted free reign to use their titles to sell themsleves and their brand,
i may be mis remembering but I think that Harry did mention this during one of hs interviews in the last few years, that they were offered the idea of running an estate or soemthing in the UK, with various restricitons but they did not want to do that.

 

[Heavs]

I think if Harry and Meghan had wanted to "Sussex Part Time Royals, apiary and organic veg, poetry readings every other week" that would have also been acceptable, possibly even encouraged by Charles. It's the fact that they wanted to explicitly make money off their position and also seem to have had a very interesting idea of what "financial independence" meant that was the sticking point.

 

[Mbruno]

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/l...d-naturalization/i-am-married-to-a-us-citizen

Unless I'm reading this wrong, HRH The Duke of Sussex would be able to apply for citizenship because he's married to an American and he's spent the majority of the last three years in the United States (as of March/April 2023).

See the second bullet on the link you posted.

Be a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States for at least three years immediately before the date you file Form N-400;

I am not a lawyer, but my layman's understanding is that, if Harry is indeed on an A1 ( diplomatic) visa as rumored, he does not qualify as a "permanent resident", which I suppose means a green card holder.

Having said that, there has never been any offical confirmation of Harry's immigration status.

 

[Denville]

I think if Harry and Meghan had wanted to "Sussex Part Time Royals, apiary and organic veg, poetry readings every other week" that would have also been acceptable, possibly even encouraged by Charles. It's the fact that they wanted to explicitly make money off their position and also seem to have had a very interesting idea of what "financial independence" meant that was the sticking point.

Their idea of financial independence was clearly that the Tax payer and Charles should still pay a lot of their expenses and they woudl alos go to the US and do Tv programmes etc and make more money.
I dont think that Meg would have wanted to do some low key private business sticking to careful restrictions and being stuck in the dull old UK.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

How deep a hole can one dig?
I would understand if Harry was cooly calculating the money while writing a book or doing netflix, but he really is on a crusade and it will not stop. His issues with the past are massive and this is not a good way to deal with them (only Meghan might disagree with that).
And at some point, that some even have reached now, people will say, not again, we don't want to hear about the same old story again, even those people, who tend to believe his story, and there is nothing else to offer.
In the end there will be even more bitterness because his version will never be perceived as 'the truth'.

 

[FigTree]

I think if Harry and Meghan had wanted to "Sussex Part Time Royals, apiary and organic veg, poetry readings every other week" that would have also been acceptable, possibly even encouraged by Charles. It's the fact that they wanted to explicitly make money off their position and also seem to have had a very interesting idea of what "financial independence" meant that was the sticking point.

If they wanted to be public servants: teachers, Doctors etc I am sure they would have made it work...while taking g salary off them. They even wanted to help Meghan with her acting career.

I have said before and I will say again they were extremely forward thinking with Meghan...much more than any spouse. I doubt they would ha e cared if she said she didn't want royal duties but continued to work.

 

[Mbruno]

How deep a hole can one dig?
I would understand if Harry was cooly calculating the money while writing a book or doing netflix, but he really is on a crusade and it will not stop. His issues with the past are massive and this is not a good way to deal with them (only Meghan might disagree with that).
And at some point, that some even have reached now, people will say, not again, we don't want to hear about the same old story again, even those people, who tend to believe his story, and there is nothing else to offer.
In the end there will be even more bitterness because his version will never be perceived as 'the truth'.

The fact that Harry has been booked to be interviewed by Anderson Cooper and Tom Bradby suggests that there is still public interest in what he has to say. And unlike the Netflix series, I suppose Harry is not getting paid for those interviews. He is, however, benefiting from the interviews to the extent that he is promoting his book.

 

[Mirabel]

The fact that Harry has been booked to be interviewed by Anderson Cooper and Tom Bradby suggests that there is still public interest in what he has to say.

But for how long?
It is beginning to sound repetitive.

(To me, it looks like Harry and Meghan are racing towards Fergie territory, where they'll be shilling for all sorts of ventures just to keep the money flowing.)

 

[Alisa]

From the very beginning even before the couple were married, I prophesied about there being mudslinging, the planting of negative stories, and competition (real or invented)between the two couples.

The young, beautiful, and popular couple that has all the star power was always supposed to be William and Catherine, not Harry and Meghan.
Furthermore, the press just loves to pit 2 women against each other and it was clear who the villain who would be.

There definitely seemed to be a insider campaign trying their bestest to brand Meghan as "difficult". For ex, there were insider reports of the Meghan getting up early in the morning to send email and texts messages. There were reports of Meghan being rude and nasty to one of the Cambridges' staffers during a joint dinner.
That paired with the constant hypocrisy of the press constantly criticizing everything the Meghan did and wore (or didn't wear).

It's easy to see how Harry would think there was a campaign against his wife.

 

[Mbruno]

From the very beginning even before the couple were married, I prophesied about there being mudslinging, the planting of negative stories, and competition (real or invented)between the two couples.

The Royal Family is not like a Hollywood TV show or movie set where "power rankings" are based on popularity and actors have to compete with each other to have a popularity edge with the public. William's and Harry's positions in the family hierarchy are determined by order of birth, regardless of their popularity. William and Kate are currently more popular for example than Charles and Camilla, but the latter are still the King and Queen Consort nonetheless.

Besides, negative stories about any working member of the Royal Family have an adverse effect on the institution as a whole. The Palace's interest is that all members of the Family have positive news coverage, rather than plant negative stories about one family member to boost another's popularity. That would be nonsensical.

 

[Alisa]

The Royal Family is not like a Hollywood TV show or movie set where "power rankings" are based on popularity and actors have to compete with each other to have a popularity edge with the public. William's and Harry's positions in the family hierarchy are determined by order of birth, regardless of their popularity. William and Kate are currently more popular for example than Charles and Camilla, but the latter are still the King and Queen Consort nonetheless.

Besides, negative stories about any working member of the Royal Family have an adverse effect on the institution as a whole. The Palace's interest is that all members of the Family have positive news coverage, rather than plant negative stories about one family member to boost another's popularity. That would be nonsensical.

That's a tad bit naive to think that's how things work.

The royal family doesn't operate or see the world through rose colored glasses.

In everything you posted - The King came to mind.

1. He was notoriously jealous of the fame and popularity of his first wife.

2. Power struggles between Clarence House and Buckingham Palace are well known.

3. Planting and leaking stories to the press was mastered by the then Prince of Wales' PR team in the late 90s- early 2000.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

That's a tad bit naive to think that's how things work.

The royal family doesn't operate or see the world through rose colored glasses.

In everything you posted - The King came to mind.

1. He was notoriously jealous of the fame and popularity of his first wife.

2. Power struggles between Clarence House and Buckingham Palace are well known.

3. Planting and leaking stories to the press was mastered by the then Prince of Wales' PR team in the late 90s- early 2000.

How earth is it naive? The BRF is not Hollywood or La La Land.
Spouses or heirs don’t overshadow the main couples or shouldn’t do controversial things. Plus Diana collaborated and briefed the media at times against her husband and the BRF and institution until they (media) turned on her. It is the natural order of things in royal hierarchy for the spouse to never overshadow or outshine the heir deliberately. It’s one thing for the media to deliberately try to overshadow the heirs spouse over the heir, it’s another for the spouse of the heir to deliberately engage and collaborate with the media for their own ends and image as the late Diana did.

To your last point, anyone who briefs the media on others will have bad press later on. A good example is Charles’s diaries were leaked to the media in the 90s. The media will make money off of any royal if the news is juicy enough. The media is nobody’s friend regardless of whether you tell them info on others or not.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

From the very beginning even before the couple were married, I prophesied about there being mudslinging, the planting of negative stories, and competition (real or invented)between the two couples.

The young, beautiful, and popular couple that has all the star power was always supposed to be William and Catherine, not Harry and Meghan.
Furthermore, the press just loves to pit 2 women against each other and it was clear who the villain who would be.

There definitely seemed to be a insider campaign trying their bestest to brand Meghan as "difficult". For ex, there were insider reports of the Meghan getting up early in the morning to send email and texts messages. There were reports of Meghan being rude and nasty to one of the Cambridges' staffers during a joint dinner.
That paired with the constant hypocrisy of the press constantly criticizing everything the Meghan did and wore (or didn't wear).

It's easy to see how Harry would think there was a campaign against his wife.

Harry and Meghan are approaching middle age so they weren’t that young. The press have generally used headlines to pit women against each other, but I doubt the women truly bought into that, only the two women would know their relationship. Plus I highly doubt William would engage in those tactics, unlike Charles in his first marriage, William and Kate are more of equal partners and have a secure position and high ratings. Why on would he engage in planting negative stories? It’s a pointless media game and will come back to you at some point.

The media also pit Sarah against Diana, and there are other examples in BRF history so it’s nothing new. The media always targets high profile newbies, just because Harry was well-liked before marrying Meghan didn’t mean that his wife would automatically share in his popularity, that’s not how it works.
Kate wasn’t the medias favorite more than a decade ago when she was dating William, neither was Sophie when her business ventures turned sour after fake Sheikh incident. Of course Meghan faced a slightly different situation because of her race in some headlines and coverage, but apart from that some of the stories weren’t so different from Kate’s -embarrassing relatives, people accusing of social climbing, not good enough for a Prince to marry, talk about her ex-partners/boyfriends, her tax returns/tax files, previous addresses, friends of the husband not liking her, not so nice comments about fashion or clothes she wore.

 

[Hallo girl]

I just want Harry to tell us what stories were planted and what private conversations were leaked.
He is the one discussing his family.
Who provided information for Finding Freedom?
It is on record admitted by Meghan that they provided information, so could there be other occasions.
Why would they stop at the book.
Kettle pot comes to mind.

 

[TLLK]

Harry and Meghan are approaching middle age so they weren’t that young. The press have generally used headlines to pit women against each other, but I doubt the women truly bought into that, only the two women would know their relationship. Plus I highly doubt William would engage in those tactics, unlike Charles in his first marriage, William and Kate are more of equal partners and have a secure position and high ratings. Why on would he engage in planting negative stories? It’s a pointless media game and will come back to you at some point.
The media also pit Sarah against Diana, and there are other examples in BRF history so it’s nothing new. The media always targets high profile newbies, just because Harry was well-liked before marrying Meghan didn’t mean that his wife would automatically share in his popularity, that’s not how it works. Kate wasn’t the medias favorite more than a decade ago when she was dating William, neither was Sophie when her business ventures turned sour after fake Sheikh incident. Of course Meghan faced a slightly different situation because of her race in some headlines and coverage, but apart from that some of the stories weren’t so different from Kate’s -embarrassing relatives, people accusing of social climbing, not good enough for a Prince to marry, talk about her ex-partners/boyfriends, her tax returns/tax files, previous addresses, friends of the husband not liking her, not so nice comments about fashion or clothes she wore.

It's true that Sophie and Catherine who dated their future husbands for a long time, had many negative stories printed/posted about them for years prior to marrying into the BRF and afterwards. Also consider all of the negative press that Camilla received for decades. Even those who are not senior royals or titled members of the family have had their time under the microscope. Harry knows that his former girlfriends had to face similar stories about them as well.



These types of stories have historically been steady sellers for the tabloids, so they're bound to continue. In my opinion the family members that seem to have decided to ignore the tabloid articles, appear to be in a healthier place than those who poured over them daily like Diana did.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

I just want Harry to tell us what stories were planted and what private conversations were leaked.
He is the one discussing his family.
Who provided information for Finding Freedom?
It is on record admitted by Meghan that they provided information, so could there be other occasions.
Why would they stop at the book.
Kettle pot comes to mind.

He always provides vague ambiguous answers deliberately as to hold something over the family so he can continue to make his silly commercial ventures. He knows that the family won’t respond so he’s taking advantage of that. They haven’t mentioned the person who talked about their child’s skin tone either, haven’t addressed Finding Freedom, haven’t addressed why they edited the Queens speech on the Commonwealth in their docuseries , why they collaborated with Bouzy who wrote nasty things about William and Kate or properly addressed the bullying allegations by staff instead of their lawyer who childishly dismissed the claims amongst other things.
He claims to want his family back but he’s constantly saying nasty things and throwing jabs. Is he a child or what? He makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

It's true that Sophie and Catherine who dated their future husbands for a long time, had many negative stories printed/posted about them for years prior to marrying into the BRF and afterwards. Also consider all of the negative press that Camilla received for decades. Even those who are not senior royals or titled members of the family have had their time under the microscope. Harry knows that his former girlfriends had to face similar stories about them as well.



These types of stories have historically been steady sellers for the tabloids, so they're bound to continue. In my opinion the family members that seem to have decided to ignore the tabloid articles, appear to be in a healthier place than those who poured over them daily like Diana did.

Thank you for backing my points here. The Sussexes are not special or unique in receiving bad coverage. Harry has received bad coverage before marriage but was still well-liked. Meghan received relatively little coverage or bad coverage prior to being part of the BRF because she wasn’t a well known actress. Why do people insist on saying it’s a smear campaign against Meghan? I think for Harry, whose previous relationships didn’t work out well, he was overprotective and scared and determined to hang on to Meghan so he thinks that way.

 

[Granada]

So it seems Harry is now embracing a 'Martyr Complex', just all in.
Now saying that he and Meghan are being portrayed as 'villains' by the mysterious "they" again.

I also love the comment he made in the Trailer..."there becomes a point when silence is betrayal". Does he even know who famously made that statement first ?
Martin Luther King.
In 1967, the year before he was assassinated, regarding his opposition to The Vietnam War.

Pretty cheap and crass to appropriate that, I doubt he will give credit to MLK. It sounds like it was spoon fed to him by Meghan. I don't think Harry is very familiar with MLK, Civil Rights and Vietnam War controversies in America in the turbulent 1960's.

I also had to laugh about Anderson Cooper asking Harry if he would ever return as a full-time working Royal. Harry decisively says "No".
Don't lose any sleep over it Haz, I can safely bet that the Family, Government, and British People DONT want you back now anyway. At all.

This "H&M Show" is becoming tedious and repetitious. I think their " brand " is tarnishing and unraveling quickly. Respect and the "likability factor" that they need to "thrive" on, seems to be falling by the wayside with each Podcast, Docu-series, Interview and soon the Book.

I still believe that in the not to distant future, that Harry will regret his actions since leaving the UK and wish he had not attacked his family and the British Public so harshly.
I can't imagine what his own kids are going to make of this in 15 years or so.
But then the Sussex's never think down the line. Strategic thinking isn't a strong point for either of them, Meghan likes to project herself as a brainy nerd, but I've yet to see much evidence of that. Vengeance driven and very full of herself, and determined to always be "in the right" for her actions.
Harry just seems to me to be a very needy, emotionally damaged, and now bitter man.

 

[Mbruno]

It's true that Sophie and Catherine who dated their future husbands for a long time, had many negative stories printed/posted about them for years prior to marrying into the BRF and afterwards. Also consider all of the negative press that Camilla received for decades. Even those who are not senior royals or titled members of the family have had their time under the microscope. Harry knows that his former girlfriends had to face similar stories about them as well.

These types of stories have historically been steady sellers for the tabloids, so they're bound to continue. In my opinion the family members that seem to have decided to ignore the tabloid articles, appear to be in a healthier place than those who poured over them daily like Diana did.

The tabloids obviously print negative stories about family members and often play one family member against another. But that is not what is controversial here. The controversy is instead Harry's recurring allegation that William was the source or the "instigator" of the negative stories about Harry's family and that William and his staff were behind the "war on Meghan".

King Charles III recently made Jason Knauf a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the New Year's Honors List. Since the LVO (unlike CBE, OBE, etc.) is in the personal gift of the monarch and not awarded on the government's recommendation, it appears to be a clear show of support and a rebuttal of Harry's attack on William's staff in the Netflix docuseries.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

The tabloids obviously print negative stories about family members and often play one family member against another. But that is not what is controversial here. The controversy is instead Harry's recurring allegation that William was the source or the "instigator" of the negative stories about Harry's family and that William and his staff were behind the "war on Meghan".

King Charles III recently made Jason Knauf a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the New Year's Honors List. Since the LVO (unlike CBE, OBE, etc.) is in the personal gift of the monarch and not awarded on the government's recommendation, it appears to be a clear show of support and a rebuttal of Harry's attack on William's staff in the Netflix docuseries.

But the idea that William is or was behind the smear campaign or whatever is nonsense because William had bad press of his own during that time as well so how would he benefit? Just because staff could be behind the campaign doesn’t mean that William told them to do it? If the staff were doing it, then they probably did it independently and some of them have connections to some journalists. But regardless the Sussexes have their pet journalists and handlers who they report to so I don’t see their point.

Regardless of the circumstances of Jason and the Sussexes, Jason like some royal staffers have received orders from British monarchs like the late Queen or King Charles so it’s not anything controversial. Plus he’s a qualified, hard working and experienced man with a CV to die for. Much more credibility than the Sussexes for sure.

 

[Ghost]

I find the idea that William planted stories through his staff not so probable. For as long as I’ve observed him - which is since his birth - he is a very guarded man. He does not play the press. Whenever he has to communicate something, depending on the subject, he uses one of a few ways: official communicate - for example about papparazzi following George when he was very little, “a friend says” - for example after megxit when we learned that “I put my hand around my brother’s shoulder all my life but I can’t do that anymore”, and very very rarely through outbursts - “we are very much not a racist family”.
No matter what Harry says, internet doesn’t forget. I’ve just seen on some insta stories so many headlines when the palace denied stories about Meghan. Now, if Harry thinks about a specific story, if he was an honourable man he should speak what’s all about or forever be silent.
Recently I started to think about Harry’s situation comparing him to a clown taking off his makeup after a show: tired, disappointed, disheartened but the show must go on.

 

[Claire]

I think Meghan is well aware that it is a quote from MLK - but it is often misquoted to mean that silence against racism is betrayal. I think that this is what Harry and Meghan are hinting at.

It was also brought to my attention that he is quoting the Earl of Wessex about wanting a family and not been a member of the firm. Edward said in a small interview that his wedding was a small wedding as they wanted a family wedding not a political event - and that they were part of the family not part of the institution. This was back in 1999.
but it is neither here or there.