"Spare" memoir by the Duke of Sussex (2023)

[Prinsara]

"I have never seen such expressions of support for Prince William[...]I've never seen such overwhelming support for one side. And it's not just in Britain." https://www.gbnews.uk/royal/prince-...blic-support-for-william-claims-expert/420135

 

[hel]

I'm sorry for putting DM as a source, but I can't find the quotes anywhere else as of now.

Article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11609675/Prince-Harry-says-rowed-Prince-William-BEARD.html

We're getting here a few interesting things about the wedding. I tried (and failed) and tried again (unsuccessfully) to find any sort of logic in this. Discussions about venues:
If this conversation is indeed true, I cannot imagine how difficult it was to deal with Harry at that point in time. So the choice was Westminster, St. Paul's or eloping in Botswana? Harry is moving in the extremes - it either has to be the biggest, most prestigious venues or eloping? If eloping/small wedding was the prefered choice, why a small church/cathedral was a problem?
What I see here is William trying to find a solution that would make his brother happy, not knowing, or maybe even knowing, which is more sad, that there's no making Harry happy.
The satisfaction of one-upping his brother on something that minor is glowing from this paragraph. But I have some serious doubts about Harry's interpretation of the situation. William (and Catherine as well) know the drill - do or don't do some things to keep the peace, to not rock the boat. Shave for the wedding and avoid having 10 articles written about it. To me it sounds like William, once again, trying to protect his brother.

His account seems to be.... ahistorical at best.

'We wanted to get married quickly. But the Palace couldn't seem to pick a date. Or a venue.'

The discussion about venues is alleged to have taken place "after returning from an 'engagement tour', for which Meghan and Harry travelled to the four home nations


The timeline:

November 27, 2017: the engagement is announced
November 28, 2017: the month (May) and venue are announced
December 1, 2017: Engagement tour - England (Nottingham)
December 15, 2017: the specific date is announced
January 8, 2018: Engagement tour - England II (Brixton)
January 18, 2018: Engagement tour - Wales (Cardiff)
February 12, 2018: time of the ceremony & carriage procession announced
February 13, 2018: Engagement tour - Scotland (Edinburgh)
March 23, 2018: Engagement tour - N Ireland (Belfast)


So there is no way that a conversation with William about the venue happened after the engagement tour. There was no foot-dragging on setting a venue or date. When there is time-stamped news and social media that belies your memoir, it goes a bit beyond "recollections may vary" into outright revisionist history.

 

[Sunnystar]

Ohhhhh, but he's going there with Anderson on the issues/concerns some of the RF had with Meghan - American, actress, divorced, and biracial.

 

[Magnolia471]

And in 2 years Meghan and Harry could not release any statement to deny that the accusation of racism was not true but created by the press? Meanwhile members of the royal family have been attacked by public opinion and called the worst possible names online...
Harry complains so much that the palace didn't defend him, when he knew full well their statements would create a stir and ruin their image. How do you defend them at this point?

The person I feel sorry the most is: Kate. This woman has been harassed by paparazzi, humiliated by the press and hacked in ten years of dating...Just to watched her own brother in law "that claims she has been like a sister to him" trash her in the press just because she didn't share her lip stick with Meghan and asked for bridesmaid dress to be re-done. Other then getting call a racist, just like the rest of the family. Harry has been vile to Kate, so disappointing. I couldn't take it, you have truly to appreciate Kate's patience.

 

[FigTree]

Ohhhhh, but he's going there with Anderson on the issues/concerns some of the RF had with Meghan - American, actress, divorced, and biracial.

It’s the same stuff.

 

[Sunnystar]

Harry is denying that any of William's issues or concerns about Meghan that led to the 2019 confrontation were based in reality. My gut says William was confronting Harry about the staff bullying and Harry denied denied denied.

It’s the same stuff.

Yes, but I found it interesting that he didn't go there in the ITV interview with Tom Bradby that aired earlier.

The racism charge feels like it is very much directed at the American audience.

 

[FigTree]

Yes, but I found it interesting that he didn't go there in the ITV interview with Tom Bradby that aired earlier.

The racism charge feels like it is very much directed at the American audience.

What? He said the same thing but denied the family were racist.

 

[Sunnystar]

Ugh... Okay, I'm officially pissed off with Anderson Cooper. Yes, the Queen was gone by the time Harry landed in Scotland, but he wouldn't have made it in time even had he flown up with William, Andrew, Edward & Sophie - and Anderson definitely leaves an uninformed viewer with the impression that had he been included on that flight he would have been there before she died.

 

[Ista]

A link to the transcript of the Anderson Cooper interview:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prince-harry-interview-transcript-60-minutes-2023-01-08/

 

[tommy100]

Referring to the apache helicopter "You don't get a pass fo being a Prince". Hmmm don't go there Harry. People have their own receipts of that.

 

[Sunnystar]

What? He said the same thing but denied the family were racist.

Oh, no, he flat out stated there were family members who had concerns about Meghan specifically because of the four reasons I listed. That is significantly different than sidestepping it by calling the institution itself racist or unconsciously biased.

 

[FigTree]

Oh, no, he flat out stated there were family members who had concerns about Meghan specifically because of the four reasons I listed. That is significantly different than sidestepping it by calling the institution itself racist or unconsciously biased.

No he said William and and Kate were concerned because of all the things you mentioned.

 

[tommy100]

Anderson Cooper: You wrote that she started a campaign in the British press to pave the way for a marriage. And you wrote, "I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she'd be less dangerous if she was happy." How was she dangerous?

Prince Harry: Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image.

Anderson Cooper: That made her dangerous?

Prince Harry: That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to being Queen consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that.

Harry says over the years, he was one of those bodies. He accuses Camilla and even his father, at times, of using him or William to get better tabloid coverage for themselves. Prince Harry writes, Camilla, "sacrificed me on her personal P.R. altar."




Wow, just wow.

 

[Sunnystar]

That's it for tonight, but apparently there is more on CBS' website on 60 Minutes Overtime and there will be more on the CBS Morning Show tomorrow.

 

[HRHHermione]

Cooper's monologue discusses Camilla as the third person in Diana's marriage:

Prince Harry says Camilla was the villain, the third person in the marriage, and that she needed to rehabilitate her image. He reinforces that he and William both asked Charles not to marry her. He says he and William didn't think the marriage was necessary and would cause more harm than good and that he could just be with Camilla privately rather than being married to her. He says they saw he was happy with her. He says that a campaign was waged to get Camilla accepted by the public. Cooper reads an excerpt where Harry says he wanted Camilla to be happy because maybe she'd be less dangerous if she was happy. He asks Harry in what way was Camilla dangerous. Harry responds: Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image, because of the connections she was forging in the British press. He says because of the hierarchy and because she would be Queen Consort, there would be people or bodies left in the street because of that. Anderson Cooper than says Harry was one of those bodies and reads an excerpt from the book where Harry says Camilla sacrificed him on the altar of her PR.

Harry then says when he introduced Meghan his father liked her, but William disparagingly called her an American actress. Harry says other family members felt the same, and the feeding frenzy from the British press contributed. He says even if they didn't believe the tabloids, it leaves an imprint in the mind and contributes to the stereotype. He says that the impression by the press and the family was that he had changed, so "she must be a witch." He then says he did change, he's really glad he changed because rather than getting drunk and taking drugs and falling out of clubs, he's now found the love of his life and he started a family with her.

Harry's statement condemning the press when they were dating is rehashed. Harry says it made his father and William look bad because they didn't do that for Kate and Camilla but the race element made it different. He says he had no idea the British press was so bigoted and that he might have been bigoted too- he didn't see what he now sees.

Their wedding is discussed. Harry says William's mistrust of Meghan worsened. Meetings to diffuse the tension did not go well. The arguments with his brother became physical. Harry says it was a build up of frustration on William's part, that he was being told certain things by people in his office and was consuming a lot of tabloid press, a lot of the stories, and he had a few issues which were based not on reality and Harry was defending his wife. He was coming for Harry's wife, she wasn't there for it, he was defending himself. William's frustrations were growing, they shouted back and forth, and William snapped and pushed Harry to the floor and he landed on the dog bowl.

William apologized after and asked Harry not to tell Meghan and he didn't until she saw the injuries. He says he went "oh f*ck"

Harry then talks about being afraid Meghan would die by suicide and he thought what happened to his mom would happen to her. That's why they announced their departure. The interview with Oprah and the Netflix are covered and that critics say Harry and Meghan are cashing in on their titles while they still can. He asks "Why not renounce your titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex?" Harry responds: What difference would that make? Cooper says one of the criticisms is why reveal all this after stepping back. Harry says he tried to do it privately and every time there were briefings, leaking, plantings of stories about him and his wife. He says there's a lot of complaining and explaining through leaks.

Harry continues to claim he would never leak against his family. Harry says he will speak truth openly rather than using an unnamed source to feed lies to a tabloid media that radicalizes its readers to potentially cause harm to his family, his wife and his kids.

The Jeremy Clarkson column is discussed and read out loud. Harry says it was shocking but not surprising and thanks for proving his point. Then he says the palace didn't comment and that silence is betrayal.

Harry being back in London when the Queen died is discussed. Harry says he asked his brother how he and Kate were getting to Balmoral (and my cable temporarily dies because my cat sat on the cable box. Apparently he disapproves of this interview. I lost about five minutes here and my recap ends here)

 

[HRHHermione]

Coming out of that- I thought Harry did come off as incredibly defensive and absolutely committed to the idea that the way he sees things is reality and the way anyone else sees things is either wrong or a deliberate attack on him and his wife. He's used this to reframe things that are quite normal. My younger sister and I have the exact age difference of William and Harry and went to the same school where we almost never interacted because I was three years older and a 15 year old doesn't have all that much in common with a 12 year old. That has not impacted our relationship as adults and we're very close now. I think many siblings are similar.

He has taken some things that are very normal and spoken of them like they were attacks. This is appropriate in a therapeutic context, but not in a public one.

The things he said about Camilla were also pretty unconscionable.

 

[tausi]

Cooper's monologue discusses Camilla as the third person in Diana's marriage:

Prince Harry says Camilla was the villain, the third person in the marriage, and that she needed to rehabilitate her image. He reinforces that he and William both asked Charles not to marry her. He says he and William didn't think the marriage was necessary and would cause more harm than good and that he could just be with Camilla privately rather than being married to her. He says they saw he was happy with her. He says that a campaign was waged to get Camilla accepted by the public. Cooper reads an excerpt where Harry says he wanted Camilla to be happy because maybe she'd be less dangerous if she was happy. He asks Harry in what way was Camilla dangerous. Harry responds: Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image, because of the connections she was forging in the British press. He says because of the hierarchy and because she would be Queen Consort, there would be people or bodies left in the street because of that. Anderson Cooper than says Harry was one of those bodies and reads an excerpt from the book where Harry says Camilla sacrificed him on the altar of her PR.

Harry then says when he introduced Meghan his father liked her, but William disparagingly called her an American actress. Harry says other family members felt the same, and the feeding frenzy from the British press contributed. He says even if they didn't believe the tabloids, it leaves an imprint in the mind and contributes to the stereotype. He says that the impression by the press and the family was that he had changed, so "she must be a witch." He then says he did change, he's really glad he changed because rather than getting drunk and taking drugs and falling out of clubs, he's now found the love of his life and he started a family with her.

Harry's statement condemning the press when they were dating is rehashed. Harry says it made his father and William look bad because they didn't do that for Kate and Camilla but the race element made it different. He says he had no idea the British press was so bigoted and that he might have been bigoted too- he didn't see what he now sees.

Their wedding is discussed. Harry says William's mistrust of Meghan worsened. Meetings to diffuse the tension did not go well. The arguments with his brother became physical. Harry says it was a build up of frustration on William's part, that he was being told certain things by people in his office and was consuming a lot of tabloid press, a lot of the stories, and he had a few issues which were based not on reality and Harry was defending his wife. He was coming for Harry's wife, she wasn't there for it, he was defending himself. William's frustrations were growing, they shouted back and forth, and William snapped and pushed Harry to the floor and he landed on the dog bowl.

William apologized after and asked Harry not to tell Meghan and he didn't until she saw the injuries. He says he went "oh f*ck"

Harry then talks about being afraid Meghan would die by suicide and he thought what happened to his mom would happen to her. That's why they announced their departure. The interview with Oprah and the Netflix are covered and that critics say Harry and Meghan are cashing in on their titles while they still can. He asks "Why not renounce your titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex?" Harry responds: What difference would that make? Cooper says one of the criticisms is why reveal all this after stepping back. Harry says he tried to do it privately and every time there were briefings, leaking, plantings of stories about him and his wife. He says there's a lot of complaining and explaining through leaks.

Harry continues to claim he would never leak against his family. Harry says he will speak truth openly rather than using an unnamed source to feed lies to a tabloid media that radicalizes its readers to potentially cause harm to his family, his wife and his kids.

The Jeremy Clarkson column is discussed and read out loud. Harry says it was shocking but not surprising and thanks for proving his point. Then he says the palace didn't comment and that silence is betrayal.

Harry being back in London when the Queen died is discussed. Harry says he asked his brother how he and Kate were getting to Balmoral (and my cable temporarily dies because my cat sat on the cable box. Apparently he disapproves of this interview. I lost about five minutes here and my recap ends here)

You made me chuckle about your Cat disapproving the interview. Even the Cat knows better!

 

[Moran]

A thank you to everyone who braved the interviews. I've decided long ago that I'd never inflict Harry on myself (or William, for that matter, I can't make out his words clearly enough.)

The bits about Camilla are - wow. But I have to admit, I'm more disappointed that no one seems to have asked him about drugs and army. And about the school matron. Did he really think it was appropriate to victimize again the woman whose only fault was that she didn't make little Harry horny? And that she had greasy hair, of course. (Coming from him, that's rich.) But of course, little people don't matter compared to the big ones' suffering.

 

[Sunnystar]

Coming out of that- I thought Harry did come off as incredibly defensive and absolutely committed to the idea that the way he sees things is reality and the way anyone else sees things is either wrong or a deliberate attack on him and his wife. He's used this to reframe things that are quite normal. My younger sister and I have the exact age difference of William and Harry and went to the same school where we almost never interacted because I was three years older and a 15 year old doesn't have all that much in common with a 12 year old. That has not impacted our relationship as adults and we're very close now. I think many siblings are similar.

He has taken some things that are very normal and spoken of them like they were attacks. This is appropriate in a therapeutic context, but not in a public one.

The things he said about Camilla were also pretty unconscionable.

I don't know if I'd say he comes off as defensive so much as having a nice, pat excuse for why his view is the correct one and anything else is an attack. It is his way or the highway.

For me, I think Cooper comes off worse, mostly because the leaked book excerpts make it clear he either a) didn't read the book entirely, or b) wasn't interested in challenging anything Harry said too hard. And given the false impression he left with viewers who aren't as familiar as those of us on TRF with the timeline of HMLQ's death and that only Charles, Camilla, Anne and Tim were at Balmoral when she passed, I lean toward B - he wasn't interested in challenging Harry on anything all that much.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

Thanks for the summaries. Am I correct in assuming that neither Cooper or Bradby asked if Harry and Meghan could have done anything differently? And if so, what?

I admit that Harry makes a good point that he has grown enough not to turn to drugs and alcohol. What he is doing is less overtly self-destructive but he's isolating himself from family and friends. He loves Meghan but he is also clinging to material things that he really can't afford without selling his family name.

The answer to the question about what different it would make to give up their titles, I would argue that it would make them less of hypocrites. But in addition to giving up the titles, they should also relinquish the money, since most of it was built on the British empire.

 

[Curbside]

60 Minutes doesn’t really do investigative or “gotcha” journalism. Seems like I’ve seen quite a few “soft focus” interviews over the years. I think Harry came off pretty well, all things considered.

 

[Sunnystar]

60 Minutes doesn’t really do investigative or “gotcha” journalism. Seems like I’ve seen quite a few “soft focus” interviews over the years. I think Harry came off pretty well, all things considered.

Fair enough. They're a pale imitation of the hard-hitting journalists they were back when my family watched regularly 30-40 years ago.

 

[kalnel]

Cooper made it a total softball interview, but Harry came off as defensive and ready to snap at anything. He struck me as very adolescent.

One interesting note: At the end of the show, they announced that CBS News (which airs 60 Minutes) reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment about the interview. The Palace declined, unless they could see the entire interview. CBS refused to share it with them, so there was no response.

I thought it was interesting that the Palace would consider commenting under any circumstances.

 

[Sunnystar]

Cooper made it a total softball interview, but Harry came off as defensive and ready to snap at anything. He struck me as very adolescent.

One interesting note: At the end of the show, they announced that CBS News (which airs 60 Minutes) reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment about the interview. The Palace declined, unless they could see the entire interview. CBS refused to share it with them, so there was no response.

I thought it was interesting that the Palace would consider commenting under any circumstances.

BP would have made the demand to see the interview in full prior to commenting knowing perfectly well that CBS News would not agree to that condition. Total non-starter of a response.

 

[Leopoldine]

Anderson Cooper seemed bored during the interview. I didn't watch the Bradby interview, but the accounts I've read give the impression that it was more hard-hitting.

 

[HRHHermione]

You know what is a question I would love to see an interviewer ask but no one has? If Harry loved the military so much and it was so life-changing, why did he choose to leave?

The answers are in the public domain already, but I'd be interested to hear Harry's answer.

 

[Curbside]

Anderson Cooper seemed bored during the interview. I didn't watch the Bradby interview, but the accounts I've read give the impression that it was more hard-hitting.

I disagree. He seemed totally engaged and curious about where PH was coming from.

Thanks for the summaries. Am I correct in assuming that neither Cooper or Bradby asked if Harry and Meghan could have done anything differently? And if so, what?

I admit that Harry makes a good point that he has grown enough not to turn to drugs and alcohol. What he is doing is less overtly self-destructive but he's isolating himself from family and friends. He loves Meghan but he is also clinging to material things that he really can't afford without selling his family name.

The answer to the question about what different it would make to give up their titles, I would argue that it would make them less of hypocrites. But in addition to giving up the titles, they should also relinquish the money, since most of it was built on the British empire.

Lots of people leave toxic situations to keep their sanity.

I don’t think giving up their Sussex titles would change anything. They’d be Prince Harry and Princess Henry, wouldn’t they? Would the tabloids then start being nice to them? I doubt it. There’s too much money at stake.

 

[Royalist.in.NC]

Thanks so much to those of you who watched and did all the work to give the rest of us summaries. It sounds like he both dug in deeper and also contradicted himself about things he and Meghan have said before. It is mind boggling and I keep waiting for someone to say “April Fool’s”

Someone’s earlier comment (sorry can’t find it) about him coming across like Andrew caught my attention and I agree - that is what made me uncomfortable . The entitlement and arrogance- Harry just doesn’t see anything that doesn’t fit with his “truth.”

I appreciate your cat taking a stand about all of this on your cable box - very intuitive cat :?

 

[tausi]

You can leave toxic situations without trashing your family with lies and half truth! I hope he finds peace and joy because it is obvious that he lacks both of these in his life!

 

[camelot23ca]

I read the transcript of the ITV interview and the first few paragraphs where he’s speaking about how he experienced his mother’s death and also the long term traumatic effects it had on him aren’t horrible. One thing I find sad about Harry is that there’s a version of his life where he could have been a very good advocate for things like bereavement, PTSD, anxiety/panic, etc. If he’d not become so fixated with the paparazzis role in Diana’s death, or so angry with the press at large. Or if he and Charles had developed a stronger bond, or he wasn’t quite so stubborn and unable to see shades of grey in life.

Some people give the impression they’d be the same no matter what happened in their life. Harry to me seems the opposite, in that even one or two things being slightly different in his life could have led to a very different person.