When Prince Harry released his bestselling memoir Spare he was extremely candid about what life is like behind closed doors for the royals, but despite this, he has admitted that there was a lot of detail he left out of the book in order to protect Prince William
Video Unavailable
Harry and William’s feud would have left Diana ‘devastated’ says Paul Burrell
Prince Harry seemingly left no holds barred about his relationships with his older brother Prince William in his controversial book, Spare, with whom he has had a strained dynamic for some years. From details about a physical altercation between the pair at Kensington Palace to a tense showdown at Prince Philip’s funeral and tension between the brothers and their wives, Kate and Meghan, Harry didn’t seem afraid of being candid when it came to his familial relationships.
However, it seems that perhaps the content in the book was just the tip of the iceberg as far as the Duke of Sussex is concerned, as he once warned he had enough material for a second memoir – and admitted he purposefully left out certain secret details from Spare in order to protect his brother.
Just days after his memoir Spare was published, Harry said he avoided mentioning some anecdotes about his father and brother, as he feared they would never forgive him if he revealed them.
He said the original manuscript for his book was twice the length of the final draft and many details about interactions between him, Charles and William were edited out as there were things he didn’t want the world to know. Harry admitted he had 50 Zoom calls with his ghostwriter and at times struggled to decide which details to include and which ones to leave out of his memoir.
Harry told The Telegraph: “It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out.” The Duke added: “There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know. Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me.”
At the time of Spare’s release, an expert claimed that Harry and Meghan’s decision to “air their dirty laundry in public” has damaged the idea of a family monarchy. Since sensationally quitting as senior working royals, the Sussexes have made a series of controversial claims against their royal relatives – especially King Charles and Prince William.
In addition, their relationship with many of the royals has turned extremely sour with them barely speaking to the monarch or Prince and Princess of Wales. And not only has it damaged personal relationships within the Firm, but historian Dr Ed Owens believes it has also majorly dented the royals’ image of being the “best of British family life”.
Speaking on the Mirror’s Pod Save The King podcast, Dr Owens, author of the new book After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself? also suggested it’s time for the monarchy to drop its family image. He explained: “The story is a slightly tragic one as it has damaged this idea of a family monarchy. This idea that this is a united group who embody, if you like, the best of British family life.
“Originally King Charles III’s reign was going to be based around him being supported by his two trusty lieutenants – William and Harry. But when that went so disastrously wrong in early 2020 because of Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave Britain, it really put paid to that vision of the family monarchy.
“And then of course we’ve had the Sussexes airing their dirty laundry in public for the best part of three years – and again it has done much damage to that narrative of happy family life.”
However, since the release of Spare, so much has changed for the Royal Family, and they face far greater challenges than the airing of dirty laundry in public – with both Kate and King Charles currently undergoing treatment for cancer and unable to participate in official engagements. Harry is set to return to the UK to celebrate 10 years of the Invictus Games, and The Times reported that Harry was even willing to temporarily return to the UK to help relieve some of the burden of official duties on the remaining working royals.
A version of this article was published in November 2023.
Do you have a story to tell? Email: emma.mackenzie@reachplc.com
