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Prince Harry promised his long-awaited memoir would be “raw and unflinching honesty.”
Raw and unflinching is certainly turning out to be, according to a leaked copy seen by The Guardianwho has published some of the most explosive excerpts this morning.
In it, Harry accuses his estranged brother of physically assaulting him during a particularly heated dispute at their Nottingham Cottage home after William called his wife Meghan “rude and abrasive”.
She also remembers how her desperate father pleaded for peace between his warring sons at Prince Philip’s funeral.
In a leaked excerpt from his highly anticipated autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry recounts a meeting with his father and brother after Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
It’s worth letting the fact that Harry stooped to recount a private comment supposedly made by a grieving King Charles at his own father’s funeral sink in a bit.
The Guardian also jokingly claims that “Harry is relentless in his recounting of intensely private scenes and conversations” in a clear attempt to boost publicity ahead of Tuesday’s official release.
It’s clear, then, that this will be a book packed with revelations designed to both embarrass and humiliate the royal family, as well as ensure that it will skyrocket the best-seller charts and line the pockets of the Sussexes with profits.
The fact that it has been leaked to a left-wing anti-monarchist newspaper will be of interest to many given Harry and Meghan’s vocal antipathy to the popular press and their sanctimonious declaration that those who speak and act on their behalf will never again resort to anonymous briefings. or clandestine.
That said, the reporter in question, Martin Pengelly, has built a remarkable career smuggling out copies of America’s most sought-after books.
The result, however, is the same.
And it’s very hard to see how the relationships between the key players in this deeply painful drama can be mended after this.
Harry seems hell-bent on unleashing a self-righteous public vendetta on his family for their perceived slight in his life, and nothing less than an Oprah-filmed truth and reconciliation committee will satisfy him.
Sure, this may patch up the cracks in the short term, but it clearly won’t do anything to mend the painfully sad personal implosion at the heart of it all.
The cover of Prince Harry’s highly anticipated autobiography, Spare
The question that remains for me, however, is that of honesty, something Harry is clearly making great game of.
According to The Guardian, the physical altercation between Harry and William occurred after they “exchanged insults.”
Were any of these Harry’s? If so, what are they?
Because while it’s clear that the entire Harry and Meghan saga was mishandled by Buckingham Palace at times, there has so far been very little honest accountability on the part of the Sussexes for any of the mistakes they’ve made along the way. .
Another excerpt leaked to Page Six in New York attempts to drag William and Kate into Harry’s 2005 Nazi costume drama, claiming they approved of his outfit choice and found it hilarious.
While it’s certainly plausible, Harry was at the time a 20-year-old man who had been given a gun and was training at Sandhurst to fight for his country.
Surely, then, he should be responsible for his own actions? This seems to me nothing less than spite.
In recent weeks, I have heard from several former friends of the prince who are horrified by his actions and amazed at how unrecognizable he is now.
People grow, develop. That’s understandable.
It would be completely wrong to say that the man known for his cheeky jokes and unpolitically correct behavior cannot change.
(And for the record, once or twice I was on the receiving end, but I wasn’t even remotely offended and, unlike Harry, I think something said to me in private should stay that way.)
But to some I’ve spoken to, Harry’s lack of genuine self-reflection and his decision to go nuclear with his family for money smacks of the same hypocrisy and dishonesty that he professes to abhor.