Spare by Prince Harry Review
★★☆☆☆
Of course I read Spare!
After a week of listening to Harry narrate his way through “his” book – it was ghostwritten – I have some thoughts.
Firstly, there is no denying that Meghan and Harry have been THROUGH it. Meghan’s continued mistreatment has been horrific and Harry’s trauma is well known. His pain and anguish after his mother’s death is paramount and is at the heart of the book, which is essentially split into two parts: BM (Before Meghan) and AM (After Meghan).
In the first part of the book, he details the difficulty he had in his younger years navigating his way in the Royal Family and finding purpose in the institution he didn’t ask to be a part of. All the while under the blazing scrutiny of the world. He’s right in describing his life as a gilded cage. And gilded it is. Lest we forget, each story is told to the backdrop of Balmoral, Eton, Sandringham, Botswana, Buckingham Palace, all of the palaces; the list goes on.
Despite his excessive privilege, Harry has struggled. He describes feeling misplaced and abandoned by his brother, who seemingly doesn’t want to know him at Eton and regularly ignores him. It may be a case of ‘Willy’, as Harry calls him, carving out his own identity without his preordained role being reinforced by the presence of his princely brother. However, it’s clear that his relationship with his brother is fraught, stemming deep into their childhood and it’s a pain regularly referred to in the book but without any real substance. Rather, there are details shoehorned into chapters that read more as barbs and jabs than real ancidotes.
This isn’t limited to just William as Harry says of his father’s relationship with the press “he hated their hate but oh how he loved their love” but listening to Harry for 15+ hours it’s clear that he too has an unhealthy obsession with the press – no one reads these stories more than he does. Would respond to incorrect positive press with the same vitriol? No, probably not.
The overarching theme is ‘Truth’, that Harry and Meghan are its champions, bearing the burden and brunt of the press, soldiering on through this ‘war’, paving the way for others – yes, this is how it reads. Yet, the book fails to demonstrate any real accountability and many situations don’t ring as true as the pious tone he reads them in.
Every situation is followed by a ‘but’ or a ‘I suppose’, as though the acknowledgement is somehow akin to accountability. Take the physical altercation with ‘Willy’, it reads as William was unbridled with rage and Harry, the war veteran, “scared” but calm. There’s only the briefest mention of Harry’s also “raised voice” before he swiftly carries on describing the attack and his victimhood. After so many of these tales I found my eyes rolling.
Overall, it’s an interesting insight to a family drama none of us really asked for. Watch any of the interviews he’s done and you get the gist of the book. There are a couple of revelations that make the book worth reading but you can find them online. I hoped for an honest account of his life but instead got a book pontificating about the woes of life without 100% truth or true accountability.
It’s a shame because it has given ample opportunities to the haters to poke holes and justify their unbridled hate. So, from now on, I will be checking out of this melodrama and I really hope they do too.
