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Spare (memoir)

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Spare
First edition
AuthorsPrince Harry, Duke of Sussex,
J. R. Moehringer (ghostwriter)
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublisherPenguin Random House
Publication date
10 January 2023
Media typePrint
Pages416
ISBN9780593593806

Spare is a memoir by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex which was released on 10 January 2023. It was ghostwritten by J. R. Moehringer and published by Penguin Random House. It is 416 pages long and available in digital, paperback, and hardcover formats and has been translated into fifteen languages. There is also a 15-hour audiobook edition that is read by Harry himself.

The book was highly anticipated and was accompanied by several major broadcast interviews. Harry details his childhood and the profound effect of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales's death as well as his troubled teenage years, and subsequent deployment to Afghanistan with the British Army. Harry writes about his relationship with his brother, Prince William and his father, King Charles III and his father's marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles. Harry writes of his courtship and marriage to the American actress Meghan Markle and the couple's subsequent stepping back from their royal roles.

Spare received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised Harry's openness but were critical of the inclusion of too many personal details.

Background and writing

In July 2021, it was announced that Harry was set to publish a memoir via Penguin Random House, with proceeds from its sales going to charity and Harry reportedly earning an advance of at least $20 million.[1][2] It is ghostwritten by novelist J. R. Moehringer.[3][4] In the following month, Harry confirmed that $1.5 million of the proceeds from the memoir would go to the charity Sentebale,[5] while £300,000 will be given to WellChild.[6]

Harry stated "I'm writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become. I've worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story – the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned – I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think."[7] Harry said the book was "accurate and wholly truthful".[8] The publisher stated that the book takes readers "immediately back to one of the most searing images of the 20th century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother's coffin as the world watched in sorrow – and horror".[6] The publisher maintained the book is "full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom".[7]

The Times reported in January 2023 Harry had second thoughts about publishing the book after visiting his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the summer of 2022, but eventually went ahead with it.[9]

Synopsis

Harry's resentment of being the "spare" is the major theme throughout the book.[10] There are chapters on his early life, his education, his time as a working royal and in the British army, his relationship with his parents and brother and with his wife Meghan during their courtship, marriage, and parenthood.[10]

Early life and Diana's death

In one of the first chapters, Harry reflects on the day he was born, when his father Charles supposedly told his mother Diana: "Wonderful! Now you've given me an heir and a spare – my work is done."[10] In the book, Harry addresses and refutes the rumours that his father was not Charles, but one of his mother's lovers James Hewitt.[11] He believes that "One cause of the rumour was Major Hewitt's red hair, but another was sadism" fueled by tabloids.[11] He adds that even Charles joked about it once, which he thought was "in poor taste".[11] He compares the dynamic between him and his brother William as the spare and the heir to that of Princess Margaret and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. He mentions that he felt "nothing for [Margaret], except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness," and added that "She could kill a houseplant with one scowl."[12]

Harry recounts being informed about his mother's death early in the morning by his father.[13] Harry claims that the idea of having him and his brother walk behind their mother's coffin horrified several adults, in particular their uncle Lord Spencer.[14] Harry also claimed that there were suggestions that William should walk behind the coffin alone, but Harry refused to allow it as had the roles been reversed William would have done the same.[14] He mentions that for years he believed his mother was in hiding to escape press intrusion and alleges that his brother William also used to have those thoughts.[15] He also discusses how the summary conclusion of investigations into their mother's death was "simplistic and absurd".[13] He questions why the paparazzi that had been following her and the people who sent them were not in prison, unless it was all due to "corruption and cover-ups being the order of the day?"[13] Harry claims that he and his brother were planning on issuing a statement to ask jointly for the investigation to be reopened but "those who decided dissuaded us".[13] Harry mentions that during his trip to Paris for the 2007 Rugby World Cup semifinal, he had a man drive through the same tunnel where his mother had died at 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), the speed with which Diana's car passed through the tunnel.[16] Harry describes the decision as "ill-conceived" as it only brought him more pain.[16] He later on admits that to connect with his mother he asked for help from a woman who "claimed to have 'powers'."[17]

Teenage years, drug use, and deployment to Afghanistan

In the memoir, Harry admits that he took cocaine at the age of 17, which he said "wasn't very fun" but "it did make me feel different."[18] He adds that he also took magic mushrooms at a party at Courteney Cox's house in January 2016 and "washed them down with tequila", after which he had hallucinations in a toilet and talked to the bin and the toilet.[19][20] Harry also discusses the "humiliating episode" of losing his virginity in a field behind a busy pub to "an older lady, who loved horses" and treated him "like a young stallion".[13] Harry claims that his brother William and future sister-in-law Catherine suggested that he should choose his Nazi uniform over his pilot uniform for a "Native and Colonial" costume party in 2005.[21] He mentions that he "liked" Catherine the first time he saw her, describing her as "more sister than in-law" whom he liked seeing laugh.[22] Detailing his tours of duty in Afghanistan, Harry states that he flew on six missions that killed 25 Taliban members, whom he did not view as "people" but instead as "chess pieces" that had been taken off the board. He adds that "It's not a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed."[23]

Relationship with Charles and Camilla, William's wedding, and Caroline Flack

Harry mentions that both he and his brother had agreed on welcoming Charles's lover Camilla Parker Bowles into their family on the condition that their father did not marry her.[13] He alleges that Camilla "sacrificed" him "on her personal PR altar" to improve her own public image and leaked "minute details" of a conversation she had with William to the press.[24] He alleges that William "felt tremendous guilt" for not speaking up about their father's affair with Camilla, and he had "long harboured suspicions about the Other Woman".[25] He adds that William was left "confused" and "tormented" as a result of the affair.[25] Harry also claims that Camilla had "played a role" in his mother's death because she had been "pivotal" in the disintegration of his parents' marriage.[24] He likened his first time meeting her to "getting an injection" and added Camilla was "bored", partly because Harry was not Charles's heir and could not be a threat to her desires for marrying his father.[24] Harry confesses that his father found happiness after marrying Camilla, and that he wanted both his father and Camilla to be happy, wondering if "she was less dangerous being happy."[24] Harry also claims that Camilla turned his bedroom at Clarence House into her dressing room as soon as he left.[26] He also talks about Charles's experience at Gordonstoun, where Harry claims his father was bullied and "almost did not survive".[24] He discusses his father's attachment to his teddy bear, which helped him through Gordonstoun and remained one of his favourite objects as an adult, a representation of "the essential loneliness of his childhood."[24]

In the book, Harry describes his role as William's best man during his wedding in 2011 as a "bare-faced lie" as James Meade and Thomas van Straubenzee gave the wedding reception speech.[27] He also mentions that he had a frostbitten "todger" at the wedding following his trip to the North Pole.[28] He also alleges that William was "wasted" on rum hours before his wedding.[29] In the memoir, Harry states that months after breaking up with Chelsy Davy he was introduced to Caroline Flack, whom he saw for a while before press intrusion "tainted" their relationship "irredeemably".[30]

Relationship with Meghan and fatherhood

Harry states that on the day he had his first date with Meghan Markle he was out at sea for a racing competition on a boat that had no toilet and he wet his pants. He states his brother subsequently discouraged him from proposing to Meghan Markle as he believed the relationship was moving "too fast", though Harry believed their mother had helped him find Meghan.[31] He also adds that William was against the idea of having either Westminster Abbey, where he and Catherine married, or St Paul's Cathedral, where their parents married, as the venue for Harry and Meghan's nuptials.[31] Harry writes that Meghan was "touched" by the idea of wearing one of his mother's tiaras on their wedding day, but instead they were asked by Queen Elizabeth II to select one from her private collection. He alleges that the Queen's dresser Angela Kelly would not lend them the tiara later on as it could not leave the palace without "an ordinance and police escort." He claims that after they tried to contact Kelly several times she "appeared out of thin air" to hand over a release form and give away the tiara but "her eyes were fire," which Harry interpreted as a "clear warning."[32]

Harry suggests that there was tension between Meghan and Catherine from "early days" due to a misunderstanding over Catherine thinking Meghan wanted her "fashion contacts" when in fact she had her own. There was also a disagreement between Meghan and Catherine over flower girl dresses as Catherine felt her daughter Charlotte's dress needed to be completely remade four days before Harry and Meghan's wedding.[33] Harry claims Catherine told Meghan via text that Charlotte had "cried" when she tried on the dress because it was "too big, long and baggy," before being reminded by Meghan, who had taken a day to respond, that she was dealing with her father, who was ill and not going to attend the wedding.[31] Catherine agreed to take Charlotte to Meghan's tailor and Harry alleges that he found Meghan sobbing on the floor once he got home.[33] Harry then claims that Catherine visited them the next day with flowers and a card to make amends.[33] Harry recalls a discussion about the timing of the wedding rehearsal and the flower girl dresses that took place in the lead-up to the wedding in May 2018, which involved his future wife allegedly telling his sister-in-law Catherine, who had recently given birth to her youngest child, that she must be suffering from "baby brain because of her hormones" as she had forgotten a detail about the rehearsal timing.[33][34] Harry claims Catherine told Meghan at a reconciliatory tea at Kensington Palace in June 2018 that she was owed an apology.[33] He adds that Meghan said those remarks were harmless, but his sister-in-law said "We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones."[33] He claims Meghan apologised, but William pointed at her saying that her comments were "rude", which prompted Meghan to tell him to "take your finger out of my face".[33] Harry also points out how he and Meghan were envious of William and Catherine's lavish home furnishings during the visit as they had to acquire their stuff through IKEA and sofa.com with Meghan's credit card.[33]

Harry mentions how he regretted searching for Meghan's sex scenes on Suits.[35] He adds that during a confrontation with Meghan, he became "disproportionately, sloppily angry," after which she said she would not "tolerate" such behavior and he needed to do therapy.[36] He talks about two signs that hinted he was going to have a child, the first of which involved Meghan singing to a group of singing seals whom he claimed sang back.[37] The second one involved Meghan taking two at-home pregnancy tests and placing the wands on his nightstand, where he kept "the blue box with my mother's hair". Harry mentions that he thought at that moment "Right, I thought, good. Let's see what Mummy can do with this situation."[37] Upon learning that they were expecting their first child, Harry mentions that he thanked "selkies" and "Mummy".[37] He also confirms that they announced the pregnancy to other members of his family on the day of his cousin Princess Eugenie's wedding in October 2018.[38] Harry also talks about Meghan's miscarriage in 2020 and how they left the hospital with their "unborn child" in "a tiny package".[39] He adds that they went to "a secret place" where "under a spreading banyan tree, while Meg wept, I dug a hole with my hands and set the tiny package softly in the ground."[39]

Stepping back from royal role

The book also details a confrontation between Harry and his brother William at Nottingham Cottage in 2019, which Harry claims happened during a visit by his brother who wanted to talk about "the whole rolling catastrophe" of their relationship and struggles with the press.[10] Harry claims that by the time William arrived he was already "piping hot" and complained about Harry's wife Meghan, whom he allegedly described as "difficult", "rude" and "abrasive".[10] Harry calls his brother's grievances a "parrot[ing of] the press narrative" about his wife.[10] The two resorted to exchanging insults, with Harry dismissing William's claim that he was trying to help.[10] Once they were in the kitchen, Harry alleges that William "grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog's bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me."[10] Harry claims that he refused to hit back despite William urging him to do so.[10] He claims that while leaving William looked "regretful, and apologised".[10] He adds that he called his therapist and that upon learning about the incident, Meghan "was terribly sad."[10]

In the book, Harry states that his father wondered if Meghan wanted to continue her acting career as they did not "have money to spare."[40] Charles went on to support the couple until their departure from the UK,[40] but Harry states that his father's main fear was Meghan's popularity, which could overshadow him.[41] Harry also claims that Charles and Camilla did not like William and Catherine "getting too much publicity" either.[40] He then mentions how he did not expect to lose his state-funded security after stepping back from his royal role as his uncle Andrew who "accused of the sexual assault of a young woman" was allowed to keep his.[42] Harry also recounts another tense meeting with Charles and William following the funeral of his grandfather Prince Philip in April 2021, where Charles stated "Please, boys. Don't make my final years a misery."[10] Harry describes William as "my dear brother, my archenemy", before pointing out how for the first time he noticed his "alarming" baldness and his fading resemblance to their mother.[43] Harry mentions that during a walk with his father and brother, William wondered why he had not come to them when having issues within the institution, before adding that he should take up his complaints about the Megxit agreement "with Granny".[44] Harry mentions that he was disgusted by his brother's response, but William lunged, and told him he loved him and "I swear to you now on Mummy's life that I just want you to be happy."[44] Harry stated in the book that he did not believe what his brother said.[44]

Harry also mentions that his father told him explicitly that he should come alone to Balmoral on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's death, something he found offending until he was told that his sister-in-law Catherine was not planning to travel there either.[13] After being refused permission to be buried at Althorp next to his mother in the event of his death, Harry mentions that he has chosen the Frogmore estate as his burial site.[45]

Release

The memoir was officially published on 10 January 2023.[8] The book will be published in 16 languages.[6] It was priced at £28 at launch, but in November 2022 major booksellers were announcing it at half that price, leading to criticism by small booksellers who would not be able to match the discounted price.[46] Five days ahead of its official release date, the Spanish edition En La Sombra (In The Shadow) was accidentally sold in some bookstores in Spain but was hurriedly withdrawn from sale.[47] According to Sky News, the English title "appears" to refer to the term "heir and a spare" – suggesting how Harry feels about his position in the royal family.[48]

Harry had three broadcast interviews to promote the book, all of which were filmed in California. An interview with Harry by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes was broadcast on 8 January, as was an interview by Tom Bradby titled Harry: The Interview on ITV1.[49][50] A third interview by Michael Strahan on Good Morning America and a special titled Prince Harry: In His Own Words, were broadcast on 9 January on ABC.[51] All three broadcasters asked the palace for comments about claims made in the interviews, but declined to provide them with the footage due to their respective network policies.[52] Harry will also appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on 10 January.[53] He also sat down for an exclusive interview with People magazine.[54]

Advance clips from the interviews saw Harry telling Cooper that "Every single time I've tried to do it privately, there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife" and that "The family motto is 'never complain, never explain', but it's just a motto ... [Buckingham Palace] will feed or have a conversation with a correspondent, and that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story, and at the bottom of it, they will say they have reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting. So when we’re being told for the past six years, 'we can’t put a statement out to protect you', but you do it for other members of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal".[50] It was pointed out by the Express that the part in which Harry describes silence as betrayal was taken from a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. without giving attribution.[55] In the interview with Bradby, Harry said that he "would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back" and that "I want a family, not an institution", adding that "they feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains" and that "they have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile."[50] Sources close to King Charles III responded to the claims by insisting that he loves both of his sons and has kept communication channels open throughout the last few years, despite their relationship being occasionally tense.[56] The two have also reportedly remained in contact and met several times during Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.[56] In the interview with Strahan, Harry stated "I don't think that we can ever have peace with my family unless the truth is out there."[51]

Total book sales, including hardcover, audio and e-books editions, were around 400,000 copies in the United Kingdom during its first day, making it the country's fastest-selling non-fiction book ever.[57] Despite having a recommended retail price of £28, many retailers, including Waterstones and WHSmith, as well as Amazon were selling it at half price.[58]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Book Marks reported that 57% of critics gave the book a "mixed" review, while 43% of the critics expressed "positive" impressions, based on a sample of 7 reviews.[59]

The Independent gave Spare a rating of four out of five stars, with Lucia Pavia writing "the Duke of Sussex hits his stride on paper in this breathtakingly frank book."[60] Also writing for The Independent, Jessie Thompson believed that the book's content was "horrifyingly personal" and "too private" and added that "The joke that Harry has broken his silence – "again" – is turning into a cliché. This is the opposite of silence; a constant cacophony."[61] Writing for the same newspaper, Tom Peck noted that readers could not take Harry's arguments seriously when making those arguments "also makes you a hundred million dollars or more".[62] He also noted the public's view that if he had complaints about press intrusion and security "he should simply shut up and not continue feeding the beast he claims to loathe".[62] He believed that with the book, Harry had shown "That his family is a neurotic mess, that it is in what he calls a mutually parasitic relationship with the tabloid press, and that he has – seemingly deliberately – made it almost impossible to make peace with them again."[62] The BBC's royal correspondent Sean Coughlan called the book the "weirdest book ever written by a royal," and "part-confession, part-rant and part-love letter."[63] He also described it as "disarmingly frank and intimate - showing the sheer weirdness of [Harry's] often isolated life," adding "it's the small details, rather than the set-piece moments that give a glimpse of how little we really knew."[64] While saying that Harry ultimately "shares too much" about certain topics in the book, Henry Mance for the Financial Times responded to the criticism that Harry's choice to speak about his life contradicts his request for privacy, saying "someone can demand you don't set fire to their garden, even when they are having a bonfire. Warren Buffett has pledged to give away his fortune, but you're not entitled to take his car without asking."[65] Mance said Spare is "arguably...the most insightful royal book in a generation."[65]

In her review for The Telegraph, Anita Singh gave the book three out of five stars and thought it was "well-constructed and fluently written." She argued that the book's focus was primarily on the relationship between Harry and his mother Diana from whose loss he has not recovered.[66] In a review for Sky News, Katie Spencer wrote that in the book "There are moments where your heart breaks, when he talks of desperately wanting to be hugged – but then there are petulant musings, immature bragging and catty explanations, making it a little hard to stay on Harry's side."[67] She adds that Harry has shared some personal details that "quite frankly, we didn't need to know" and make the book "both tender and bizarrely unrelatable".[67] Royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby described Harry as "a very troubled man" and stated "I'm concerned incidentally that everyone uses the word revelations. Yes, there are obviously revelations about how he lost his virginity, taking drugs, and how many people he feels he might have shot down from his Apache. But those are the kind of revelations, in part, that you would expect, I suppose, from a B-list celebrity."[29] Writing for Press Gazette, Dominic Ponsford believed that Harry had "not only breached the privacy of his family members but also significantly undermined his own future right to privacy."[68] He argued that the book "leaves very little off-limits when it comes to future press coverage of Harry's private life."[68] He mentioned that Harry could be sued by his family for breach of privacy, citing the 2006 McKennitt v Ash case which showed that "those in close family relationships owe a duty of confidence to each other."[68] In his review for The Times, James Marriott labeled the book "a 400-page therapy session for mystic Harry" who "was looking for an escape route, a way to blow up his coddled, caged panda bear life," while his wife Meghan is shown "with her talent for victimhood and offence."[69]

In the book Harry discusses his relationship with Caroline Flack, who died by suicide in 2020, and stated "She was described in one paper as my 'bit of rough,' because she once worked in a factory or something. Jesus, I thought, are we really such a country of insufferable snobs?"[70] Flack's former publicist, Alex Mullen, criticised Harry for detailing the relationship in his memoir, calling it "absolutely gross" and added that it was "disgusting he's brought up old long forgotten slurs she had to suffer in full view of the public around the world."[70][71] In the book Harry also discussed why he thought Flack took her life, stating "She couldn't stand it anymore, apparently. The relentless abuse at the hands of the press, year after year, had finally broken her."[70] Mullen wrote that Harry was "parroting media reports" about Flack's death "as if they're reality."[70] He also suggested that he and his wife Meghan should instead reflect on the fact that they "might have caused Queen Elizabeth II pain just as she lost her husband of 70 years and while she was on the path to her final goodbye. The Royal Family need to strip him of all titles immediately."[70][71]

Afghanistan comments

Harry's remarks in the book that he had killed 25 Taliban fighters prompted some Twitter users in Afghanistan and Pakistan to brand him a "murderer" and a "crusader".[72] Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to the claims via a statement: "The western occupation of Afghanistan is truly an odious moment in human history and comments by Prince Harry is a microcosm of the trauma experienced by Afghans at the hands of occupation forces who murdered innocents without any accountability."[73] Taliban commander Molavi Agha Gol described Harry as a "big mouth loser who has been trying to get attention", and added that Harry was "scared to go to a combat zone".[73] Khalid Zadran, a Taliban official, stated that "criminals like Harry who proudly confess their crimes will be brought to the court table in front of the international community."[74] Zadran condemned Harry's "cruel and barbaric actions" in taking "lives of dozens of defenseless Afghans".[74] Uaqab Afghan, a Taliban director in the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, believed Harry was lucky to have "survived" and wondered if international justice groups would react to "Prince Harry's atrocities against humanity in Afghanistan".[74] Anas Haqqani criticised Harry for comparing his opponents to chess pieces, stating "The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans. They had families who were waiting for their return."[74] He also stated "We checked and found that the days on which Prince Harry is mentioning the killing of 25 mujaheddin, we did not have any casualties in Helmand. It is clear that civilians and ordinary people were targeted."[75]

American-Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah reacted to Harry's statements by stating that he is a "monstrous murderous psycho" and called for him to be extradited to Afghanistan to face criminal charges.[74] Andrew Neil described the remarks as "a nightmare – an absolute nightmare – for his security teams. How stupid can you be?"[72] Mark Borkowski was also critical of him giving away his track record in Afghanistan, stating "He's put a target on his back and if he's protecting his family, he's put them in the greatest danger because I don't believe they've got the same level of security he would have enjoyed while he was a member of the royal family."[72] Conservative MP Bob Stewart questioned why Harry would share such details with the public, stating "Real soldiers tend to shy away. People I know don't boast about such things. They rather regret that they have had to do it."[72] Colonel Tim Collins reacted to the revelations by stating "That's not how you behave in the army; it's not how we think. Harry has now turned against the other family, the military, that once embraced him, having trashed his birth family."[76] He added that Harry was "pursuing US identity politics and casting slurs or racism around where none exists."[76] Colonel Richard Kemp believed that Harry's "words will be fed into Jihadist propaganda to carry out attacks against the UK".[77] Kemp was also critical of Harry's description of military training with the British army as he claimed the Army had "trained me to 'other' them, and they had trained me well."[77] Kemp said "The idea that soldiers are trained to see the enemy as chess pieces to be swiped off the board is wrong. It's not how we trained people. It's potentially damaging to say this and the Taliban has exploited his words to accuse him of war crimes."[77] Lord Darroch, former National Security Adviser, stated that "he would have advised against" Harry giving away such details.[76] Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, called Harry "very stupid" for publishing his claims and stated that there could be "serious security issues" for veterans at the upcoming Invictus Games, as the games are associated with Harry.[78] Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee and former British Army captain, warned of the "security repercussions", while former defence secretary Lord Hutton of Furness believed that speaking about how many people he had killed "diminishes him."[77] General Sir Richard Barrons, the former Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, stated that "there are things that happen on the battlefield and there's no great advantage in saying anything public."[77] Retired Royal Navy officer Chris Parry reacted to the claims by stating that he had never heard a colleague "say what their score is. I'm afraid to say it's clumsy, tasteless and does not afford respect to the people who have been killed."[79]

Former British Army captain Mike Crofts noted that Harry's comments were "both unwise but also counter the unspoken code of the UK armed forces", and added that "discussing kill counts openly often suggests that someone is processing a large amount of trauma linked to their service and possibly before it."[80] He concluded that Harry had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include "parental drug and alcohol addiction, abuse, neglect – and, significantly, the loss of a parent – all constitute trauma and adverse experience in childhood."[80] Retired former senior intelligence officer Philip Ingram believed Harry showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[79]

Pen Farthing, a British former Royal Marines commando and founder of the Nowzad Dogs charity, was evacuated from Kabul on 6 January 2023 following the publishing of Harry's claims. The move was done to avoid "potential reprisal attacks on ex-forces people."[81][82]

Protests about the deaths of the 25 people killed by Harry broke out at a university in Helmand Province on 8 January 2023.[79][83]

Discussions on mental health

In the book, Harry claims that following a physical altercation with his brother in 2019 he did not contact his wife but immediately called his therapist. Journalist Daniel Bird claimed this contradicted the comments Meghan had made earlier about not being allowed to get help for her psychological issues: "Prince Harry said he called his therapist right after a fight with the Prince of Wales... but didn't Meghan say she wasn't allowed to speak to a therapist while she was a working royal? Seems odd Harry was allowed and she wasn't..."[84] Writing for The Independent, Meredith Clark praised Harry for contacting his therapist after the altercation, stating that it would help with breaking the stigma surrounding men that are ashamed to ask for mental help.[85]

Harry, who has been a mental health advocate, was called a hypocrite by sources close to his father Charles and his sister-in-law Catherine for undermining their mental health in his book by talking about Charles's hard time at Gordonstoun and Catherine's mental state after giving birth to her youngest child.[86] One source said "It is hypocritical for him to talk about other people's mental health. The King may have spoken about his troubles at Gordonstoun in public, but it's not for Harry to go into all that. The problem is he just doesn't have any grown-ups advising him."[86] Sources close to Harry's late grandmother Elizabeth said that Harry's repeated "ambushing" of the royal family had an impact on her health and "did take its toll. At that stage in your life and your reign, you just don't need that on top of everything else."[87]

Political response

When questioned in an interview if the public can have faith in the monarchy following "allegations of fighting and betrayal at the top", UK prime minister Rishi Sunak responded "I think the public like me have enormous regard for the Royal Family, they're deeply proud of them... When I get to go around the world and champion Britain as an amazing country with so many things that we can be proud of, our institutions including the royal family are one of those."[88] Patti Davis, daughter of Nancy and Ronald Reagan, who had previously written a similar tell all book during her father's presidency, discouraged Harry, saying; "My justification in writing a book I now wish I hadn't written…was very similar to what I understand to be Harry's reasoning. I wanted to tell the truth, I wanted to set the record straight. Naïvely, I thought if I put my own feelings and my own truth out there for the world to read, my family might also come to understand me better."[89]

Public opinion

In January 2023 and ahead of the release of Harry's memoir Spare, his popularity in the UK plummeted even further according to a survey by YouGov, with almost two-thirds of the participants having a negative view of him, an increase from the results in May 2022 when roughly half the population viewed him negatively.[90] Only a quarter of those surveyed viewed him in a positive light.[90]

Veracity of claims

In the book, Harry claimed that his stepmother Camilla had leaked details of her private conversation with his brother William to the press. Sources close to Camilla mentioned that she was not behind the leak and was "furious" when she discovered that details of her first meeting with William were published in the press.[91] She had discussed the meeting with her top aide Amanda MacManus whose husband, a media executive, shared the information with a former colleague, who in turn leaked the story to a newspaper.[91] Camilla released a public statement at the time, announcing that MacManus had "resigned" following an investigation.[91]

Speaking to The Sunday Times, a former royal aide also called into question Harry's account of how he chose a Nazi costume for a party, as he was one of the people responsible for handling the fallout and had spoken to Harry at the time.[92] He stated "There was no mention to any advisers at the time that it was William and Kate's idea or they thought it was hilariously funny. That recollection did not exist at the time, contemporaneously."[92] Another friend called Harry's claim "bullshit" and added that it had nothing to do with William and Catherine.[92] In response to Harry's resentment at not giving the best man speech at his brother's wedding reception, a close friend of the brothers said "Harry didn't want to be best man, he kept saying for months it should be Thomas and James because they were William's best mates."[92] The Sunday Times's royal editor Roya Nikkhah also reported that Harry had been "written out" of the script of his father's upcoming coronation in May 2023, adding that he would not be omitted from the procession but there would be no official role for him in the service.[93]

While discussing details about his 13th birthday which occurred in September 1997, Harry states in the book that his mother had got him an Xbox as a birthday present, which was handed to him by his aunt Lady Sarah McCorquodale. Critics pointed out that the video game console was first announced in March 2000 and not released until 2001.[94] Harry also claims that he learned about Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's death in 2002 via a phone call while he was at Eton, but records show that he along with his father and brother were on vacation in Switzerland when the news broke out.[95] Harry's claims that he learned about Queen Elizabeth II's death via the BBC website were called into question, as The Telegraph had reported that his father informed him personally about the monarch's death via a phone call five minutes before the public announcement.[95] Harry also claims in the book that when he first met his future wife Meghan, she was wearing a black sweatshirt, jeans and heels, while Meghan had previously stated that she had a blue dress on for their first meeting.[95]

References

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