The world waited with baited breath for the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare.
There haven’t been many figures who have generated headlines for the world’s media quite like Harry and Meghan Markle have over the past few years.
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The high-profile couple made waves when they officially stepped back from their royal duties, but one might have been forgiven for believing they were doing so with the aim of staying out of the public eye.
Forgiven, but entirely wrong.
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No, since Harry and Meghan’s move to the US, they’ve been anything but timid as concerns their willingness to speak out about their former lives.
Yet all that has gone before might pale in comparison to the revelations made within the pages of Harry’s memoir, Spare.
To say that Harry’s new book is highly-anticipated is a gross understatement. Over the past two years, he’s talked relatively openly about the traumas he sought to escape when he and Meghan left the Royal Family.
First came the infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, where Harry and Meghan opened all kinds of worm cans with regards to the treatment they had been subjected to after tying the knot in England.
Amongst other things, the couple made accusations of racism, while Meghan even admitted to having harbored suicidal thoughts. Interestingly, she also claimed she had received no help at all from the Firm while enduring her toughest period.
Indeed, Harry was equally as vocal, stating that his aim was to protect his wife from suffering the same fate as his late mother, Diana.
Yet even the most pro-Harry factions could not have predicted the doggedness with which he would go on the attack, not just taking aim at the mainstream media in Britain, but also at members of his own family.
Mere months after the aforementioned Oprah interview, it became public knowledge that Harry was working on a tell-all memoir that would dish the dirt on all the controversies that had been kept under wraps from his life as a working royal.
“Prince Harry will share, for the very first time, the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him,” Random House said in the initial press release, teasing the book as an “honest and captivating personal portrait.”
New details about Harry’s book were disclosed recently, including that it would be named Spare. There has been speculation that it might address Harry’s “spare” role as the second son of a king. Other reports suggest the meaning behind it focuses on that fact that he has been “spared” from the Royal Family now that he has left.
Harry reportedly paid $20 million upfront for ‘Spare’
It was generally rumored that the memoir would paint a negative picture of Harry’s family. According to Page Six sources, the book is set to contain several truth bombs that members of the Royal Family would rather keep quiet.
“It’s juicy, that’s for sure,” one NY publishing source told the news outlet.
“There’s a lot of new stories in there about the past that Harry has not spoken about before, about his childhood … there is some content in there that should make his family nervous,” another publishing insider added.
Today, January 10, is the day the memoir goes on sale to the public, so it makes sense to assume stories taken from within its pages will be dominating the headlines for days/weeks to come.
Yet there will be few stories that are as scrutinized and talked about as the revelation concerning a fight that took place between Harry and his older brother, Prince William.
Anyone who’s kept half an eye on the ongoings of the British royals over the past few decades will know of the tight bond shared by William and Harry. The boys lost their mother, Diana, at an early age, and relied heavily on one another growing up.
Indeed, of all the ties Harry appears to have severed with his acrimonious exit from the Royal Family, the one connecting he and William is arguably the most tragic.
And make no mistake about it: the bond between the brothers – that once seemed so incredibly strong – hangs by a thread after all that Harry has revealed to the press.
Among the most explosive claims to be found in Spare is Harry’s account of the time he was knocked to the floor by William in the midst of an argument over Meghan Markle.
Words are said to have been exchanged by the brothers, with William – heir to the British throne after the passing of Queen Elizabeth – reportedly labeling Meghan “difficult,” “rude,” and “abrasive”.
Harry explains how William: “Grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor.”
The younger prince detailed how William had journeyed to Nottingham Cottage – then Harry and Meghan’s home on Kensington Palace grounds in London – to discuss “‘the whole rolling catastrophe’ of their relationship and struggles with the press.”
Yet their exchange grew heated. Harry writes how he gave his older brother a glass of water in an attempt to cool him down.
“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He 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. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Harry also told how his brother had urged him to strike back, but that Harry ultimately chose not to.
“What was different here was the level of frustration, and I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him,” Harry recalled said.
“He wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to.”
Just how William will react to Harry’s latest string of accusations and allegations remains to be seen, but it’s doubtful the brothers’ relationship will be repaired anytime soon.
