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

[Queen Claude]

I doubt if Harry was close at all to Andrew, still I think when Harry runs out of people to dish the dirt on, that wont stop him from making out that Andrew, too was cruel to him in some way.

I think it is the opposite, Harry actually is rather close to Andrew, not necessarily confidants / buddies, but I think has a positive relationship with the Yorks including Andrew.

 

[JGio]

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

I think it is the opposite, Harry actually is rather close to Andrew, not necessarily confidants / buddies, but I think has a positive relationship with the Yorks including Andrew.

I doubt he would start talking about Andrew, even if he knew something. Harry and Meghan seem to get along with Eugenie very much, and with Sarah as well.

But never say never.

 

[Denville]

I think it is the opposite, Harry actually is rather close to Andrew, not necessarily confidants / buddies, but I think has a positive relationship with the Yorks including Andrew.

what evidence do you have of that? He might be friendly with his 2 cousins but why wuold he be friends with Andrew? Accordign to what H said, Meghan didn't even know who Andrew was when she met him..

 

[SirGyamfi1]

I think it is the opposite, Harry actually is rather close to Andrew, not necessarily confidants / buddies, but I think has a positive relationship with the Yorks including Andrew.

I don’t believe they are close and certainly won’t be after what he said about Andrews court case. Plus after all he’s done now, I think that Beatrice and possibly might distance themselves

 

[Denville]

I don’t believe they are close and certainly won’t be after what he said about Andrews court case. Plus after all he’s done now, I think that Beatrice and possibly might distance themselves

He does seem to be freindly geneuinely with Eugenie, but i agree, she might be distancing herself after this latest set of outbursts. I cant see him being friends with Andrew at all as And is older, and whatever his awful behaviour has never talked about his family to the press.

 

[Mirabel]

The DM suggests that the decision (of whether Harry will be invited to the Coronation) will end up with the Prime Minister.

How likely is that?

 

[Denville]

The DM suggests that the decision (of whether Harry will be invited to the Coronation) will end up with the Prime Minister.

How likely is that?

will very likely be discussed with the PM. Possibly, it may be felt that given Harry's off the wall behaviour lately, there is a case for the PM to make some suggestions to the king.

 

[Queen Claude]

what evidence do you have of that? He might be friendly with his 2 cousins but why wuold he be friends with Andrew? Accordign to what H said, Meghan didn't even know who Andrew was when she met him..

Harry and Meghan were on their way to Andrew's home, the Royal Lodge when they got word that the Queen would also be visiting. Eugenie lived in London and presumably if H and M wanted to spend time with Eugenie they could have met in London.

Now that I think about it, the connection could have Sarah and they were on their way to visit Sarah. Nevertheless there have been reports over the years that Harry socializes, ski trips and whatnot, with the Yorks and not just Eugenie.

Also Andrew is Harry's godfather. I know that some godparents and godchildren do not have close relationships, but in their case, they had the physical proximity and Andrew was the right age, not too young or old, to have a godfatherly relationship with Harry.

This is conjecture on my part, but when it was revealed that Harry and Meghan spent a good amount of time at Windsor during their courtship, my thought back then was that Andrew, perhaps at Sarah's urging, allowed then use of the Royal Lodge, not necessarily the main home, but some other house / cottage.

I don’t believe they are close and certainly won’t be after what he said about Andrews court case. Plus after all he’s done now, I think that Beatrice and possibly might distance themselves

What was stated in the book was Harry erroneously assuring Meghan that if Andrew, an accused sex offender, still had his security, then they will not lose theirs. In the same passage, for context, was a negative statement about Andrew being connected to a pedophile.

Yeah we don't know how this mention will be taken by the Yorks, but compared to how others in the book were blasted over their character and actions, and the Andrew-Epstein matter was one of the biggest royal stories in the past decade, IMO Andrew got off fairly lightly.

I doubt he would start talking about Andrew, even if he knew something. Harry and Meghan seem to get along with Eugenie very much, and with Sarah as well.

But never say never.

I agree, at this point in time Andrew, the pariah, not getting a lot of ink in the book to me is indicative of Harry "sparing" him in deference to his closeness to the Andrew and other Yorks, but I would not put it past Harry to have a go at Andrew in the future once all the other wells have run dry.

 

[Lilyflo]

The DM suggests that the decision (of whether Harry will be invited to the Coronation) will end up with the Prime Minister.

How likely is that?

It's possible but it sounds more like the issue is a hot potato that nobody wants to take responsibility for.

 

[camelot23ca]

will very likely be discussed with the PM. Possibly, it may be felt that given Harry's off the wall behaviour lately, there is a case for the PM to make some suggestions to the king.

That might be a way to solve the issue - I assume that the PM would only have to express very mild concerns about the wisdom of Harry and Meghan attending the Coronation for the issue to be considered closed. Charles can then correctly tell his son the decision is out of his hands.

I think people pushing for some sort of peace summit within the next few months are dreaming. Harry is in the middle of attacking individual members of the Royal Family as well as the institution itself. Even if the family sat down and everything went perfectly it would still be too soon for Harry to go to the Coronation. I would put the timescale of genuine reconciliation - especially as it relates to Harry and Meghan being seen in public with the family - on the order of years, and that’s if they behave perfectly during those years.

The more realistic scenario is that the family would meet, Charles and especially William would refuse to be punching bags for the Sussexes, and we’d then be subjected to another couple of years of Harry and Meghan’s lies and delusions.

I don’t think the BRF needs to go on the offensive with the Sussexes - silence is working very well for them - but they also don’t need to participate in some sort of farcical reconciliation theatre to placate them.

 

[Denville]

Really I think there is nothing that Charles and Will can do. If they try for a reconciliation, Harry will gloat and say that he was right after all and they are now bowing down to him and if they continue to be cool, he'll go on with his letters and tv appearances, insulting more and more people. I do think that as well as a a pretty awful unstable personality, he is affected by drug taking and drinking and its frying his brain. mabey permanently. BUt even if they try to be nice with him, one simply cant trust him

 

[Denville]

H
iindicative of Harry "sparing" him in deference to his closeness to the Andrew and other Yorks, but I would not put it past Harry to have a go at Andrew in the future once all the other wells have run dry.

but if Harry was friendly with Andrew, how come apparnetly Meghan asked who Andrew was when she met him or saw him first... she thought that he was some kind of staff member. Surely, he would have said, Oh we're meeting my uncle Andrew, I've always been good mates wtih him.. look that's him over there, the big fat guy

 

[Queen Claude]

1. There is no proof of this
2. This is exactly what he is doing and BY THE WAY his mother is known to have done the same thing. It's clear Harry is more dangerous than Camilla.

I was replying to a post that Harry referred to Camilla as dangerous and that's all he said was that she was dangerous and did not explain why he thought she was dangerous.

My reply was that he did substantiate the claim, although that does not mean that folks will agree with his substantiation that Camilla is "dangerous", "bodies in the street", "sacrifices on altars" and all that.

I think that there is proof that Harry and others were collateral damage in the campaign to improve Charles and Camilla's image, I posted about it here. Nevertheless I think that Harry himself has distorted and used the wrongdoings done by other royals and/or on their behalf to suit his own agenda and give him carte blanche to wreak havoc.

By the way, I agree that Harry is borrowing from his mother's playbook, but I think that we are living in different times and that even Diana would not get away with the things she got away with in the 1990s.

 

[Emmily]

we are told that Meghan is intelligent and well educated, so surely she could see that things like admitting to hitting your police officer, or mocking a disabled woman and still laughing about it, or a persistent whine about your brother, or stuff about H's first sexual encounters, would probalby put a lot of people off. Even if she sympathised with his feelings, wouldnt it be wiser to say "Harry, i wouldnt mention about putting your mother's cream on your bits and peices, or laughing at the plain matron, or hitting your police officer.

There are a number of people who are book smart but lack common sense. I suspect this might be the case

 

[Toledo]

His psychiatrist must be even more doped and totally off the planet then this...uhh..total failure of a whining frozen wiener....Who wanted to know?...

Just when one thinks it can not possibly get worse..it does and flies by to the next non level of lies...I am glad he hurts himself this way,so people actually do have a clear view of him...

Imagine,the RF had to put up with this whimsical creature in their midst for too long,and then not comment,for us to feel the full scale of weight this man terrorised and threatened & betrayed his family with.

Beyond comprehension,and that´s OK too...So is his book...I hear people stopped chopping wood and use spare to light their fires...Good idea.

The public is seen now what Charles and William, and possibly Kate, had to put up with Harry for years in private. A delusional, arrogant substance abuser with a Mesiah I-know-better-than-anyone complex. Her's incapable to understand the world around him unless this world gives up on his demands for attention.

Reminds me of my office days, when a co-worker who never cared for nor had kids gets married and has them, all of the sudden she is the self-proclaimed office expert in parenting dispensing unrequested advice to others already with grown kids.

He should put an effort into checking out his own household and, to this day, I'm waiting for an interviewer to ask him point blank when he and his wife are going to accept his father-in-law apology and let him meet the grandchildren. Now that's the big fakery on his claims, he harasses his paternal family only because that's where the name, money and influence he craves comes from. And he needs this, to keep his book and exaggerations on everyone's radar it to legitimize their status in the California A-List crowd that now ignores them.

In few years from now, what will be of their lives? Two more books and Netflix movie or series deals to stretch Spare until, let's say, 2027? A USA weekly reality show in the lineup after Swamp People? Duck Dynasty or The Housewives franchise? An empowerment talk show with Meghan and Harry as the sidekick on the other side of the couch? And at this rate in 16 years, sorry but I have to joke about this too, I won't be surprised if the Markle's' talk show introduces Lilibet as teen rapper or country music singer Lil' Beth.

Kidding aside, their future looks focusing on making the world a better place as long as we buy their merch.

 

[Denville]

There are a number of people who are book smart but lack common sense. I suspect this might be the case

Or she sees nothing wrong with most of H's behavour and doesn't realise that it will make him look bad to people who are presently neutral.. and that only people who support him no matter what, wont be rather shocked by a lot of his behaviour? One thing that shocked me was that he according to himself believed for 10 years that his mother was not dead. That really isn't normal.
Honestly I find ti hard to believe that a sensible editor reading the book, or his wife, would not spot a lot of things that dont sound good and suggest removing them.

 

[Alison H]

There's definitely been a shift in public opinion, against Harry. When they first left, there was a "Mrs Simpson's pinched our king" feeling that Meghan wanted to leave and Harry had been henpecked into it. Now, we can all see how spoilt, self-obsessed, paranoid amd delusional Harry is. I'm even beginning to feel a tiny bit sorry for Meghan for putting up with it.

 

[Denville]

The public is seen now what Charles and William, and possibly Kate, had to put up with Harry for years in private. A delusional, arrogant substance abuser with a Mesiah I-know-better-than-anyone complex. Her's incapable to understand the world around him unless this world gives up on his demands for attention.

Reminds me of my office days, when a co-worker who never cared for nor had kids gets married and has them, all of the sudden she is the self-proclaimed office expert in parenting dispensing unrequested advice to others already with grown kids.

I fear that's true.. that Harry behind the scenes was always difficult, exhausting and frequently nasty. so the staff and family had to work to make him seem pleasant and doing a decent job of work.. and hoped that the fact that he wasn't all that bright would keep him within the fold... because he did not know how to cope if he left

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Why do people say this? Harry knows nothing about the Andrew's sex life that the public doesn't. Do people think Harry was hiding behind a houseplant when Andrew was allegedly having sex? Or that Andrew confided his peccadillos to Harry? ?

He was never going to discuss Andrew's problems in any great detail out of consideration for Beatrice and especially Eugenie, one of his closest cousins.

Even more important to Harry, the Duchess of York was kind to his precious Meg and has publicly come to her defense.

There will be no bashing of Andrew from Montecito.

 

[Prinsara]

There's definitely been a shift in public opinion, against Harry. When they first left, there was a "Mrs Simpson's pinched our king" feeling that Meghan wanted to leave and Harry had been henpecked into it. Now, we can all see how spoilt, self-obsessed, paranoid amd delusional Harry is. I'm even beginning to feel a tiny bit sorry for Meghan for putting up with it.

But Harry himself seems to say in the book/interviews that it was Meghan's choice to leave, not his decision as others with knowledge have claimed. Of course it could be another one of his contradictions.

 

[Queen Claude]

but if Harry was friendly with Andrew, how come apparnetly Meghan asked who Andrew was when she met him or saw him first... she thought that he was some kind of staff member. Surely, he would have said, Oh we're meeting my uncle Andrew, I've always been good mates wtih him.. look that's him over there, the big fat guy

According to Meghan, she never even googled Harry so presumably she did not google Prince Andrew. And as the story goes, on their way to the Royal Lodge, they got word The Queen was stopping by which trumped meeting Uncle Andrew. So yeah once QEII entered the picture, Andrew is the fat guy holding her purse.

 

[Denville]

He was never going to discuss Andrew's problems in any great detail out of consideration for Beatrice and especially Eugenie, one of his closest cousins.

Even more important to Harry, the Duchess of York was kind to his precious Meg and has publicly come to her defense.

There will be no bashing of Andrew from Montecito.

Harry will bash anyone he feels he has to, in order to keep up the books and articles. His father paid for hs wedding, took his bride up the aisle and was attentive to her mother at the wedding. That didn't stop Harry from making increasingly mean spirited attacks on him.

 

[Granada]

Denville, great point, they are visiting Andrews OWN home and She *supposedly* doesn't know who he is.
Another little gem I don't buy. But in hapless Harry's mind just another example of how Meghan didn't research the Family at all.

He's like the Movie, Sport, and Rock Stars who believe that their "Wags" (wives and girlfriends) meet and fell in love with them, without knowing who they were. One of the oldest tricks in the Book.

Yoko Ono pulled off this con successfully when She claimed not to know who John Lennon was when he visited a London Gallery where She was displaying some of her "artwork".

And I'm not buying one bit the Reconciliation "peace talks" stories being floated. Right now the Family need COMPLETE "radio silence" with The Sussex's. Nothing good or positive is possible at this point, Harry has proven unstable with mental health issues too. Only complete capitulation by The Family, with public "accountability and apologies" would satisfy our petty and petulant Prince.

Any meeting would be used as fodder for another tell all or cheap Interview PR Stunt. The Family know this....

I still don't see ANY way for them to go to The Coronation. It would make Charles look soooo weak, and he doesn't need that now. Second the thin skinned Sussex's would get booed mercilessly in public. Who would even deign to talk to him in The Family or Public ?

Nope, there is no way forward now. Harry keeps mouthing off about "reconciliation" because it makes him look "nice-good" as he's laughing all the way to the bank.

He and his wife made a deal with the devil to demean and denigrate his Family AND the Monarchy to elevate their own profile and make a fortune.

I still hope at some point it backfires spectacularly and karma pays them a visit.

I do worry about Charles's health in all this. He is 74, what this stress must be doing to him, I wonder......

 

[Denville]

According to Meghan, she never even googled Harry so presumably she did not google Prince Andrew. And as the story goes, on their way to the Royal Lodge, they got word The Queen was stopping by which trumped meeting Uncle Andrew. So yeah once QEII entered the picture, Andrew is the fat guy holding her purse.

but as I've said, if Andrew was around, and Harry was close to him, surely Meg would have a rough idea what he looked like. They were going to his house, and surely meghan would have her phone out to have a look at the guy and Harry would have described Andew to her

 

[Erin9]

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

There are a number of people who are book smart but lack common sense. I suspect this might be the case

Agreed. I think that likely describes Megan too. No common sense. Or emotional intelligence. Also extremely self centered.

I’m not sure how useful it is to be book smart if it doesn’t come with other qualities that translate that into a useful skill. I’m not sure she has them.

I do think she likely doesn’t get how she or Harry come across. I think both fall into the category of thinking that if they tell their story enough times in enough ways- THEN everyone will FINALLY understand just how wronged they were. And eventually the BRF will fall into line too. And they’ll get what they want.

Just a few months ago Meghan pointedly said she didn’t sign a NDA. A pretty obvious threat imo. Now we’ve got Harry saying- he has another book worth of material, he left out the worst. Oh- and Meghan needs to be apologized to. He also has talked about wanting to work with the commonwealth. They’re a lot alike.

 

[jkay2]

From what I can see of Meghan, she is a perfectionist and someone who needs to be in control. This isn't necessarily a character flaw per say, but, it does have its pro's and con's. For some one like Meghan, to have their carefully planned wedding start to derail, from negative media coverage, an extremely difficult, distressing, and embarrassing situation with her father/family, a rumoured difficult head designer at Givenchy, and then an ill-fitted wedding and bridesmaids dress's.....it must have been incredibly difficult for someone of Meghan's nature. In fact, except for the most laid back of us, it would be difficult for most.

I can also see Catherine's point of view. She is post-partum, acutely aware of the media's focus on her children and how savage the media can be, and having a hard time connecting with a future SiL that she is fundamentally incompatible with.

All of this should have remained in the family as a personal, and rather small, family squabble. Both parties made errors, and according to Meghan, Catherine apologized and that should have been the end of it. Yet somehow the story became public. Do I think the palace should have intervened and said the prevailing story wasn't entirely true? Absolutely not. Family squabbles should remain as private as possible. Do I think the Sussex's should keep harping on about it? Absolutely not. Unfortunately this story hasn't disappeared yet because it keeps getting brought up... by the Sussex's.

Whilst I find many things that Harry and Meghan have gone through to be interesting and relevant i.e. the tragic and public loss of a parent at a young age and what that kind of grief does to someone and how racism can affect a persons media coverage and public perception...the Sussex's do themselves no favours and continue to undermine what is actually their most valuable and important contributions to the public forums.

I completely agree with everything you've written. This whole bridesmaid dress incident seems like something you should be laughing about by now in a normal family. It also had NOTHING to do with Harry himself. If Meghan wants to discuss it more, she should discuss it in her own book.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Harry will bash anyone he feels he has to, in order to keep up the books and articles. His father paid for hs wedding, took his bride up the aisle and was attentive to her mother at the wedding. That didn't stop Harry from making increasingly mean spirited attacks on him.

Few things would have helped Harold's book sales more than taking shots at Uncle Andrew, everyone's favorite Windsor To Hate.

There is a reason he didn't. I still say it's because of his cousins and Fergie. Maybe he cares more about not hurting them than he does about Pa ?

Or maybe he is saving the Yorks for the book he will write when he needs another influx of cash?

 

[Erin9]

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

There's definitely been a shift in public opinion, against Harry. When they first left, there was a "Mrs Simpson's pinched our king" feeling that Meghan wanted to leave and Harry had been henpecked into it. Now, we can all see how spoilt, self-obsessed, paranoid amd delusional Harry is. I'm even beginning to feel a tiny bit sorry for Meghan for putting up with it.

I don’t feel sorry for Meghan. I think she and Harry come across like two peas in a pod. They have so many similar, negative qualities imo.

Best I can tell, they feed off each other. Harry obviously had issues before Meghan came along, but looking at Meghan, it’s not hard to see how things spiraled downward so quickly imo.

If he’d married someone else, things may have been different. But- then-someone with other personality traits would have- and probably did- understand all the issues that came with marrying Harry. And stayed away.

Meghan is book smart, but that’s about it. And, from what I see, she hasn’t been able to do much with that aside from getting a good education. She can be articulate. Other times- listening to her is a word salad. I have no idea what she’s trying to say. But- she’s trying to make herself look good. That’s apparent.

Also- Meghan got a lot out of this marriage. Money, status, a platform, fame- that was unattainable on her own. She got what she said was her childhood dream out of this marriage.

And she has absolutely encouraged all this public nastiness. She’s participated in it repeatedly.

 

[camelot23ca]

There's definitely been a shift in public opinion, against Harry. When they first left, there was a "Mrs Simpson's pinched our king" feeling that Meghan wanted to leave and Harry had been henpecked into it. Now, we can all see how spoilt, self-obsessed, paranoid amd delusional Harry is. I'm even beginning to feel a tiny bit sorry for Meghan for putting up with it.

Meghan is an adult woman who went into this situation with her eyes wide open and who had numerous opportunities to change course over the last several years. If she and Harry aren’t living the life she wants then she shares responsibility for that with him. And if Harry has now spun completely out of control she should think back on who encouraged him to push his family away and walk away from the only support and structure he’s ever known. I don’t think she’s responsible for Harry’s current behaviour, but she’s not an innocent bystander, either. She’s been an enthusiastic and vocal partner in Team Sussex since the beginning.

She’s certainly taken full advantage of the positive opportunities her marriage gave her. Now she’s also stuck with the disadvantages, including whatever issues Harry is going through. If she’s read Harry’s book and listened to his interviews and now thinks that things have gone way too far - which I think is the conclusion most mature adults would come to - then she needs to put her big girl pants on, acknowledge that this mess is partly her fault, and get serious about fixing things. It’s not going to be quick, and frankly I don’t think she’s going to have an easy life with him, but he’s her children’s father so she can’t just walk away.

I do feel very sorry for Archie and Lili, and for their sake I hope their parents grow up.

 

[Somebody]

But Harry himself seems to say in the book/interviews that it was Meghan's choice to leave, not his decision as others with knowledge have claimed. Of course it could be another one of his contradictions.

What exactly did Harry say about that either in the book or interviews?