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

[ppetrica]

Originally Posted by Curryong

There were wild predictions from tabloids in the run up to publication that Britons wouldn’t buy this book in any great numbers. Well, that’s been proven wrong!

Most people are buying the book out of curiosity, not because they are H&M fans like you are.
I happen to be a passionate buyer of novels, in the past 15 years or so I have bought over 2000 books. And yet, for more than half of those now that I read them I think they weren't worth the money nor my time.

[Lori138]

Originally Posted by Denville

Harry is hardly going to say he's a drug addict is he? He's supposed to be involved in projects for mental health, he's supposed to be saying that he has now overcome his previous problems, so he's not going to admit that he was ever addicted. He might still be using drugs, for all we know. Aand from what I understand, he's been using Cocaine, and the cannabis that's going around now is a lot stronger than what was going around in the 60s and 70s, which was probalby relatively harmless -.

Was it not mentioned earlier in this forum that he uses cannabis daily still?

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Lori138

Was it not mentioned earlier in this forum that he uses cannabis daily still?

That was from a source that's no longer public, so we can't treat it as fact or part of a discussion.

[Lori138]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

That was from a source that's no longer public, so we can't treat it as fact or part of a discussion.

Okay thanks for clarifying.

[Lilyflo]

Originally Posted by HighGoalHighDreams

I noticed something interesting re: Harry’s use of drugs and the conversation with his therapist about him not being addicted. She asks if he has used drugs and he says he has and tells her “some wild stories.”

But this doesn’t add up, does it? By Harry’s own telling, he used cocaine “a few times” when he was 17, well over a decade before and with minimal effects. Other than that, he describes one isolated incident of using mushrooms and marijuana use.

Harry describes more incidents than that of marijuana use. They weren't 'incidents' either but rather a lifestyle. When living alone at Nott Cott, he says he used to smoke a joint after dinner. He says he smoked "a shopping bag" full of weed after he'd had his date with Meghan. When they were at Tyler's house, Harry says he would smoke a joint late at night when everyone was asleep.

[HighGoalHighDreams]

Yes. I meant he describes one incident of mushroom use; and he also describes marijuana use. He describes habitual marijuana use from his teenage years to the present.

[caethi]

Originally Posted by HighGoalHighDreams

Yes. I meant he describes one incident of mushroom use; and he also describes marijuana use. He describes habitual marijuana use from his teenage years to the present.

While it may be troubling to think that Harry uses cannabis so regularly, I know several in my own circle of generally conservative-living acquaintances who also do so. One uses it for pain control, another uses it to control intrusive thoughts, another to manage another kind of mental health issue. In other words, it doesn't surprise me that someone who has struggled with trauma would use cannabis regularly. I don't say that I would recommend it, just that it is very common. On the other hand, use of cocaine and hallucinogenics is much less mainstream and would be very concerning.

[Curryong]

Absolutely. Although I’m old now I am of the 1960s generation that did smoke weed quite copiously. It’s regarded, rightly in my view, as a recreational drug and although not really to be recommended I’d say, from anecdotal evidence here in Australia (where it is illegal) it’s widely used, certainly not to be compared to the harder drugs. And several people of my acquaintance do smoke it for relaxation, and pain management. I’m certainly not shocked by its widespread use.

[Alison H]

Medical use of cannabis is actually legal in the UK, but only for certain conditions and when prescribed by a specialist doctor.

[TLLK]

It should be noted that Cannabis' potency is now stronger than in decades past.



https://www.addictioncenter.com/drug...r-than-before/

According to recent polls, more than 35 million people in the US are regular users of the drug. As states continue legalizing Cannabis, its numbers of consumers are growing, and its strains are becoming stronger.

[HighGoalHighDreams]

We got a bit sidetracked with grammatical unclarity in my post, but what the longer post said- and what I think commentators likely agree- is that there are many indications in Spare that Harry’s drug use history(and I am not implying his present use) is substantially more robust than he admits to.

He admits to 1. continuous use of marijuana up to the present 2. a handful of cocaine use age at the of 17 and 3. a single use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

But the book itself is full of hints that the truth runs deeper than this and I would submit that this is part of the 400 plus pages that got edited out. Others may disagree.

[Prinsara]

It likely doesn't matter what else Harry could be taking. A long, heavy, and seemingly continuous use of cannabis when it's completely contraindicated even where legal given his own and familial mental health history... that's enough, probably.

And the odds and evidence are high that it's been more harmful than helpful.

I still want to know who was signing off on pulling him out of every "random" test, and I imagine I'm not alone.

[duchessrachel]

Originally Posted by HRHHermione

The bit about Princess Margaret giving him a pen with a fish on it one Christmas and him thinking it was a cheap and stupid gift really grated on me. She was a great aunt, and he was in school at the time. He had everything he could need in terms of clothes and games and toys plus his parents and grandparents were getting him things of that nature. She probably thought “oh this is fun and silly and he can use it at school” and he thought she was being cheap and mean and he’s still making fun of it even though he’s nearly 40.

I thought it was a weird anecdote at first but it gets really weird because the phrase “oh, a Biro. Wow.” gets repeated throughout the book.

It is crazy for Harry to go on and on about that gift. I have read that the Royal Family give joke gifts to each other. This had to be a joke gift, I am thinking.

[Queen Claude]

Originally Posted by HighGoalHighDreams

I noticed something interesting re: Harry’s use of drugs and the conversation with his therapist about him not being addicted. She asks if he has used drugs and he says he has and tells her “some wild stories.”

But this doesn’t add up, does it? By Harry’s own telling, he used cocaine “a few times” when he was 17, well over a decade before and with minimal effects. Other than that, he describes one isolated incident of using mushrooms and marijuana use. This should not add up to having “some wild stories” to tell in his late 30s- maybe one, two, or a small handful. No, there is something more here.

We also know he lied about his drug use to avoid a major scandal around the time of The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. And the story he tells about the early 2002 story is confusing at best- he furiously denies every aspect of it, but his own account of his life at that time confirms a big chunk of it.

There is a lot more of Harry’s story to tell, and it’s no mistake that he’s yet to tell it.

The "wild stories" could have come from alcohol use. Although based on other things stated and implied, I think that Harry is a frequent marijuana user.

[Asteria12]

Originally Posted by duchessrachel

It is crazy for Harry to go on and on about that gift. I have read that the Royal Family give joke gifts to each other. Once, Harry gave Queen Elizabeth a shower cap that said "Ain;t life a b ----" This had to be a joke gift, I am thinking.

I think this is what confuses many people, because Harry doesn't explain this well-known tradition of his family in his book. He doesn't say, for instance, "in my family we give each other joke gifts at Christmas, and one year my Great Aunt M gave me a biro with a little fish wrapped around it" and continues with his story. If he is telling this story in order to be humorous, and re-uses the phrase “oh, a Biro. Wow.” for continuation, then the context sort of works but is very, very clumsy. I am surprised that his ghost writer didn't try to tidy that up, but of course, we don't know how much control Moehringer had.

[Leopoldine]

Originally Posted by ppetrica

Most people are buying the book out of curiosity, not because they are H&M fans like you are.
I happen to be a passionate buyer of novels, in the past 15 years or so I have bought over 2000 books. And yet, for more than half of those now that I read them I think they weren't worth the money nor my time.

IMHO The most unusual thing about the book is the "stream of consciousness" narrative style. It's hard to tell what is an actual quote of his when he recalls conversations with others, and what was just a thought at the time.

He left out things that have been hinted at elsewhere, like their dealings with Royal Collection Trust staff members in furnishing Frogmore Cottage. I've always wondered how that works, and if rank dictates what you can use in your Crown-owned home. I've read in Sasha Swire's memoir that Andrew and the then PoW were handbags at dawn over a piano.

Regarding the use of Royal Collection items, Harry's rank I would think would entitle him to use collection items in his home. Furniture, tableware, lighting, rugs ... and there's nothing about this in the book. That would have been interesting to me, and I suspect other forum members as well. It would be more interesting than the penis talk.

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Leopoldine

Regarding the use of Royal Collection items, Harry's rank I would think would entitle him to use collection items in his home. Furniture, tableware, lighting, rugs ... and there's nothing about this in the book. That would have been interesting to me, and I suspect other forum members as well. It would be more interesting than the penis talk.

But that wouldn't sell the narrative that he and Meg were hard-done by while Willy and Kate lived in luxury, would it.

[yukari]

Originally Posted by Leopoldine

(...)

He left out things that have been hinted at elsewhere, like their dealings with Royal Collection Trust staff members in furnishing Frogmore Cottage. I've always wondered how that works, and if rank dictates what you can use in your Crown-owned home. I've read in Sasha Swire's memoir that Andrew and the then PoW were handbags at dawn over a piano.

(...)

Or maybe it's left out simply because he doesn't know (or couldn't careless trying to know). I mean, he didn't know that he needed to get the Queen's permission to marry. All those stuff about Royal Collection Trust seems too complicated for him.

[Curryong]

Or, the couple may not have been allowed artworks, furniture etc for Frogmore Cottage from the Royal Collection. All I remember reading about as far as the interior design of FC were wails from the tabloids about how expensive it was all going to be, and rubbish from the same sources about gold taps and copper baths and yoga rooms, which turned out to be untrue, unsurprisingly, and articles in certain magazines that intimated that the furniture and furnishings were all modern.

[Royalist.in.NC]

Originally Posted by Leopoldine

IMHO The most unusual thing about the book is the "stream of consciousness" narrative style. It's hard to tell what is an actual quote of his when he recalls conversations with others, and what was just a thought at the time.

He left out things that have been hinted at elsewhere, like their dealings with Royal Collection Trust staff members in furnishing Frogmore Cottage. I've always wondered how that works, and if rank dictates what you can use in your Crown-owned home. I've read in Sasha Swire's memoir that Andrew and the then PoW were handbags at dawn over a piano.

Regarding the use of Royal Collection items, Harry's rank I would think would entitle him to use collection items in his home. Furniture, tableware, lighting, rugs ... and there's nothing about this in the book. That would have been interesting to me, and I suspect other forum members as well. It would be more interesting than the penis talk.

Anything would be more interesting than the penis talk!