It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last. With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.
One of the memories that is very vivid in my mind is the night I heard that Princess Diana was killed in a tunnel in Paris. I remember watching the royal wedding as a child, so this news was devastating to me as an adult. Having always been fascinated by England and the Royals, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Spare by Prince Harry.
The story starts out with Prince Harry describing a scene where is he trying to talk with his brother, Prince William and his father, Prince Charles after the funeral of Prince Phillip. They state that they truly do not understand why Harry left England and the monarchy. They just don’t understand why he has made these extreme choices. So Harry begins the story with “Pa, Willy, World….Here you go.” Harry goes onto explain he loves his country, loves the monarchy and loves his family. What he doesn’t love is the press and his family’s failure to defend and protect his wife.
You have to have been living under a rock not to hear the many revelations that have come out in the press from Prince Harry’s stories. The shocking revelations and the interviews are everywhere. Harry talks about growing up under the shadow of the press. He describes his belief that he really was just ”the spare heir”, his drinking and drug days, losing his virginity and of course the death of his mother. That event has shaped his world. He lives in constant fear of losing his wife, of not having enough security. As he has said many times in the press, he feels like the past is repeating itself and he will not allow what happened to his mother happen to his wife. He goes so far as to explain that the other higher ranking royals would throw he and his wife under the bus to avoid their looking bad in the press. He particularly takes aim at Queen-Consort Camilla as the main one to trade stories with the press so she can rebuild her image. He claims that many leaks came from inside Buckingham Palace and went so far as to say the late Queen Elizabeth was manipulated by her closest aids before her death to his and Megan’s determent.
Can we trust that all of these events, as he remembers them, are accurate? He states in the memoir that he has a great memory for spaces but not necessarily dialogue. Harry always comes across as the calm, reasonable one in the memoir. Yet his brother and father are always irate and against him and Megan. Nowhere in the story does Harry or Megan come across as having done anything wrong. He seems to always place the blame on someone else.
Personally, I feel much sympathy towards Harry. He was dealt a terrible blow with the loss of his mother and quite frankly needed counseling from the start. He is living a life of fear from that one event, although a tragic event, that clouds his judgement and perspective. I believe the memoir shows his side of the story quite well. I am not convinced that he is always right and that everyone else is wrong. I also do not believe this novel with personal stories of his family is going to magically explain his point to them and they are going to all of a sudden understand and what to resolve the situation. If anything, this books and his one-sided recollections are going to drive a larger wedge between he and his family. This is truly a sad situation that Harry has decided to play out on the world’s stage. Much can he said about not airing your dirty laundry in public. I wish he and his family healing and hope he can get the help he needs to live a peaceful life. Unfortunately, I do not believe this book is going to help with that and I believe that was Prince Harry’s reason for writing the memoir. Well, that and money!
- Laura, Library Director