Ultimate ‘spare’ wants all of the privilege but none of responsibility
Duke’s memoir invades Windsors’ privacy with claims backed up by little or no evidence at all
When he was growing up, Diana, Princess of Wales, reportedly gave her second son the nickname “Good King Harry”. Keen to raise her boys as equals, even though she knew they had very different destinies, the late princess even went so far as to suggest that Harry would make a better king than William, according to the author Angela Levin.
In her 2018 biography Harry: Conversations with the Prince, Levin claimed Diana identified qualities in Harry that would make him a superior ruler, including his “ability to cope”, “ease with people” and “general gusto”.
One can only speculate as to what Diana would now make of that assessment, were she still alive today.
For the torrent of claims in Harry’s autobiography show exactly why he is the ultimate “spare” – a petulant prince wanting all the privileges but none of the responsibility of royal life.
While there is no denying that the 38-year-old father of two has psychologically suffered as a result of losing his beloved mother in such tragic circumstances, at such a young age, no thought whatsoever appears to have been given to the mental health of the loved ones he so readily hangs out to dry in this 416-page assault on his nearest and supposedly dearest.
As he presents his own one-sided version of events
– no one else’s feelings are “spared” as he quite hypocritically invades the Windsors’ privacy with claims backed up by little or no evidence.
Even Kate’s postnatal hormones are commented upon at one stage.
Having repeatedly accused the media of a feeding frenzy – he has now taken to handing the tabloids everything on a silver platter.
From red meat like: “I killed 25 Afghans” to scraps like: “I got frostbite on my penis”, no detail is spared. It’s like Thomas Markle on some of the psychedelic drugs Harry repeatedly claims to have taken.
The intent is clear – to undermine the monarchy and everyone in it. As evidenced on Netflix, it isn’t enough for Harry (and Meghan) for love to “win” – The
Firm also has to lose for project “finding freedom” to be hailed a success.
As such, rather than taking ownership of his actions, everything is always everyone else’s fault.
He writes of that ill-fated fancy dress party in 2005: “I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said.”
The Duke was 20 years old at the time but the suggestion seems to be that he wouldn’t have dressed like the SS without his brother and sister-inlaw’s say-so.
Such a man-childish abrogation of responsibility is the sign of a “spare” if ever there was one. For only a “spare” would be able to appear on Oprah Winfrey, film a six-part documentary, and write a book throwing the Royal family under a bus – and still expect to garner public sympathy afterwards.
As heir to the throne, William has no choice but to maintain a dignified silence because that’s what future kings do.
That’s presumably also why he thought it wouldn’t be a good idea for reckless Harry to deliver the best man speech at his wedding to a future queen and why he questioned whether his brother should get married with a beard.
As “spare”, Harry has never had to concern himself with such flipperies as protocol, let alone leading by example.
By publishing such an explosive memoir, he is once again proving that he has always largely regarded himself
The intent is clear – The Firm has to lose for project ‘finding freedom’ to be hailed a success
No thought has been given whatsoever to the mental health of the loved ones he so readily hangs out to dry
as able to do whatever he likes. In the world according to Harry and Meghan – they are not just always right but always wronged at the hands of an “evil” aggressor – be it the monarchy, the media or their own royal relatives. Kate is blamed for making Meghan cry at a bridesmaids dress fitting when reports suggest it was the other way round.
Charles is blamed for marrying Camilla even though it made him happy.
Camilla is held partly responsible for Diana’s death despite being nowhere near Paris at the time. Royals are blamed for caring too much about how many engagements they carried out, even though that is the whole point of them. Staff are blamed for taking Team Cambridge Versus Team Sussex sides in the run up to Megxit even though the couple left them little choice. The late Queen’s closest former aide is a “troublemaker” for denying Meghan immediate access to a priceless tiara for a hair appointment. As ever, the media is blamed for absolutely everything. William is accused of “parroting” a press narrative, which, in another breath, Harry claims was the result of “leaking and briefing” by the palace.
The timing of the dog bowl “attack” is interesting. Harry claims it happened in 2019, after the brothers’ former joint communications secretary Jason Knauf submitted a bullying complaint against Meghan in October 2018 but well before the media had reported on it. News of the damaging dossier, in which it was claimed the Duchess had driven two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of the third employee, did not surface until March 2021 – two years after this altercation is thought to have taken place.
Meghan denies the allegations and the findings of an internal palace investigation have never been published.
So this was really a row about William siding with the staff against his sister-in-law, not the media. Harry’s argument, no doubt, was that blood should be thicker than water; that family should come first. How hollow that sentiment must ring right now as Harry refuses to spare William the ignominy of washing their dirty linen in public.