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

[wartenberg7]

That he was an under aged minor while this woman was not, nobody seems to care about... Had it been the other way around, everybody, even if this was 21 years ago, would be hypocritically shocked! Double standards?

 

[Prinsara]

That he was an under aged minor while this woman was not, nobody seems to care about... Had it been the other way around, everybody, even if this was 21 years ago, would be hypocritically shocked! Double standards?

He was not underage. Age of consent in the UK is 16, unless the person is in a position of authority over you (she was obviously not); then it's 18.

He was also doing cocaine at the age of 17, if you want something to get concerned about.

 

[Denville]

That he was an under aged minor while this woman was not, nobody seems to care about... Had it been the other way around, everybody, even if this was 21 years ago, would be hypocritically shocked! Double standards?

He's not under age, and she was 19, 2 years his senior so hardly a much older woman playing round with a lad.

 

[wartenberg7]

He's not under age, and she was 19, 2 years his senior so hardly a much older woman playing round with a lad.

By under aged I mean a person not 18. Some time ago I heard (can´t remember if it was a person dealing with child protection or in judical service) it was technically a crime when a 16 or 17 year old girl had a boy friend aged at least 18 and the parents giving their consent to sexual intercourse, which I was not aware of before. But, perhaps law has changed about that in the meantime...?

 

[Alison H]

The age of consent in the UK is 16. When he said "older woman", it sounded like he meant someone in her 30s, which would have been a bit icky.but still legal. There's certainly no problem with a 19 year old girl and a 16/17 year old boy. But, as Sasha Walpole said, he could at least have warned her before detailing iit in his book.

 

[Prinsara]

By under aged I mean a person not 18. Some time ago I heard (can´t remember if it was a person dealing with child protection or in judical service) it was technically a crime when a 16 or 17 year old girl had a boy friend aged at least 18 and the parents giving their consent to sexual intercourse, which I was not aware of before. But, perhaps law has changed about that in the meantime...?

Age of consent: not the same over the world.

 

[Granada]

wartenberg7, with all the disturbing allegations in Harry's Book, like obvious substance abuse, anger issues, vilifying family members, to beating up his own RP Officers and making fun of a crippled Matrons looks and disability..... I find a two year age gap between a 17 and 19 year old in what was a consensual, even if fueled by Alcohol "get together", nothing serious. Both made that clear.

NOTHING shocking to me, if it was a 19 year old boy and a 17 year old girl either.

Sasha could have sold her story for money, but She never did. She has much more integrity than Harry, in my opinion.

Again, why foolish Harry even included this in his Book is the ONLY thing I find shocking. Especially comparing himself to a "Stallion".That episode he provided sounded like something out of a steamy-cheesy Romance novel. I wonder how comical it sounds in the Audio version in his own words.

But then I've been of the mindset that Harry and Meghan will come to regret this sordid and scornful tell all. For many reasons.

One thing that baffles me in the last 2 months as I find out more about them, from their own words no less, is these two REALLY seem like an unlikely Couple from Stories in the Book and The Netflix Docu-series.
Just REALLY different types. And the least of it is that Meghan is American and Harry a Brit. That's what jumps out at me, anyway.

 

[Lilyflo]

That he was an under aged minor while this woman was not, nobody seems to care about... Had it been the other way around, everybody, even if this was 21 years ago, would be hypocritically shocked! Double standards?

Shocked about what? A 16 yr old with a 19 yr old? That sounds well within the realms of normal to me for either sex. In the 1940s, my 16yr old mother had a 20 year old boyfriend and that wasn't unusual. In the 60s and 70s when I was a teen, that age gap wouldn't have raised an eyebrow nor would it for Harry's generation or the teens today.

 

[wartenberg7]

wartenberg7, with all the disturbing allegations in Harry's Book, like obvious substance abuse, anger issues, vilifying family members, to beating up his own RP Officers and making fun of a crippled Matrons looks and disability..... I find a two year age gap between a 17 and 19 year old in what was a consensual, even if fueled by Alcohol "get together", nothing serious. Both made that clear.

NOTHING shocking to me, if it was a 19 year old boy and a 17 year old girl either.

Sasha could have sold her story for money, but She never did. She has much more integrity than Harry, in my opinion.

Again, why foolish Harry even included this in his Book is the ONLY thing I find shocking. Especially comparing himself to a "Stallion".That episode he provided sounded like something out of a steamy-cheesy Romance novel. I wonder how comical it sounds in the Audio version in his own words.

But then I've been of the mindset that Harry and Meghan will come to regret this sordid and scornful tell all. For many reasons.

One thing that baffles me in the last 2 months as I find out more about them, from their own words no less, is these two REALLY seem like an unlikely Couple from Stories in the Book and The Netflix Docu-series.
Just REALLY different types. And the least of it is that Meghan is American and Harry a Brit. That's what jumps out at me, anyway.

Not shocking to me, either. But what I do find disturbing is that P Harry shared this very private and intimate episode with a world "audience" at all...

 

[JR76]

Not shocking to me, either. But what I do find disturbing is that P Harry shared this very private and intimate episode with a world "audience" at all...

Harry's desire for privacy on his own terms goes hand in hand with his (thoughtless?) disrespect of the privacy of others.

 

[Alison H]

It sounds like a scene from a Jilly Cooper novel. A prince and a groom sneaked out of the pub for rumpy-pumpy and backside-spanking in a field - it's exactly the sort of thing she'd write! I really don't know why Harry felt the need to share it with the world.

 

[sophie25]

I subscribe to The Royalist which comes weekly from The Daily Beast. Honestly, even though Tina Brown started it, I’m not sure how reliable it is so I won’t share the link per forum rules. The issue that came out yesterday quotes Sasha Walpole saying things like: she’s kept this a secret for 21 years and would have never said anything about it had he not written about it in Spare. She revealed herself as she knew it was only a matter of time before the press did and she didn’t want to be anxious about when it would happen. She also commented that he didn’t have to reveal all the personal details.
Again, this is such an adolescent thing to have done, Harry. I really feel for this woman who has had her privacy invaded.

I feel for her too. She's a grown woman now and done something she probably regrets when she was a teenager. Harry definitely should not have brought the story up as he's embarrassing a third party who obviously didn't want it out there.

 

[Somebody]

Just wanted to point out that Harry's revelations in "Spare" about his "todger" got him mocked AGAIN, at The Grammy's no less.

Yep, Trevor Noah has joined Jimmy Kimmel in publicly dissing the once dashing Prince. Trevor said, when introducing James Cordon "that he is living proof that a man can move from London to LA and not tell everyone about his frost bitten penis".

If I wasn't so VERY disappointed in Harry, I could *almost* feel bad for him.

To go from a respected and very well liked Prince, to now being the butt of jokes about his penis. WOW.

Hardly the profile that a would be Global "activist and humanitarian" and champion of mental health issues wants to be seen as. Now seen as a lightweight, immature fool. As well as untrustworthy with a big mouth.

I can ONLY wonder now if Harry and Meghan wished that many of these foolish-juvenile appearing stories and claims from The Book, were cut ?
I would have to think yes.

And Trevor Noah recently was part of Meghan's podcast, no less...

 

[Asteria12]

Trevor Noah is a comedian and will use anything topical in his routines, and Harry made himself topical.

 

[yukari]

One can argue that since Harry is a jolly lad with a good sense humour, he wouldn't mind being a joke, maybe even welcome it. Who know?

It sounds like a scene from a Jilly Cooper novel. A prince and a groom sneaked out of the pub for rumpy-pumpy and backside-spanking in a field - it's exactly the sort of thing she'd write! I really don't know why Harry felt the need to share it with the world.

Honestly, when I was reading it, several times I wondered whether am I reading a memoir (nonfiction) or a Harlequin (fiction) because it does feel like the latter.

I subscribe to The Royalist which comes weekly from The Daily Beast. Honestly, even though Tina Brown started it, I’m not sure how reliable it is so I won’t share the link per forum rules. The issue that came out yesterday quotes Sasha Walpole saying things like: she’s kept this a secret for 21 years and would have never said anything about it had he not written about it in Spare. She revealed herself as she knew it was only a matter of time before the press did and she didn’t want to be anxious about when it would happen. She also commented that he didn’t have to reveal all the personal details.
Again, this is such an adolescent thing to have done, Harry. I really feel for this woman who has had her privacy invaded.

I think it's from her (exclusive) interview with Daily Mail. I've seen some clip in sosial media of her speaking in a video with Daily Mail logo stamped on it, but sorry I'm not interested to dig into Daily Mail article and contribute to their click so if you interested, please Google.

Newsweek raises a good point in this article:

Prince Harry's Book Gifts Kiss-and-Tell Stories to Tabloids He Sued

(...)

Kiss-and-tell stories about the private lives of celebrities in the Sunday papers used to be so common in Britain that the now defunct tabloid The News of World was nicknamed "The News of the Screws."

That all but ended when European and U.K. privacy laws gave stars the right to obtain court injunctions banning news organizations from spilling their secrets unless there was a public interest justification for doing so.

(...)

Needless to say, old fashioned kiss-and-tell Sunday exclusives are now vanishingly rare in Britain.

Harry was single at the time he lost his virginity and both were above the legal age of consent in Britain—meaning that under ordinary circumstances, there would be no public interest justification for running the story and he would have been entitled to an injunction.

The prince, though, had already revealed the key details in his own book, paving the way for the tabloids to make money out of his virginity story.

It comes around 15 years after a British High Court judge in a landmark 2008 case brought by Formula 1 magnate Max Mosley ruled that the sex lives of celebrities are no one else's business.

The saga, in other words, marks a further role reversal for a royal who previously fiercely defended his own privacy but has now made money not only from an extensive trawl of his own private life but also that of other people.

Harry may have no objection to Walpole's story being told—he told it himself first after all—but given everything he said about the media, it is hard to believe he will welcome his sex life being used to sell British tabloid newspapers.

Not least of all, Walpole spoke to The Mail on Sunday who Harry and Meghan have sued four times between them and The Sun, who Harry has accused of phone hacking.

 

[Leopoldine]

A telling theme in the book is the lack of detail Harry gave when describing historic and luxurious furnishings in the Crown properties he tried to describe. It would have been much more interesting if he went into detail about the historic items he mentions, like the big desk in a state room at BP. He sets this bit up as an historic moment, giving no mention of the tumultuous history of this desk, formerly owned by French Royals.

Same thing when pouting about his little Nott Cott. The two of them visited the Cambridges in their big complex in KP, and Harry couldn't describe even one thing in there, other than how posh it was. His father and William could have probably cited the provenance of everything in the home. The Sussex's gap of knowledge in the decorative arts does not bode well. For Royals.

There is a tiny teensy chance he may be in a Regent position. The last Regent was the one who acquired that stateroom desk he talked about.

 

[Leopoldine]

Another thing --- Harry's blabbing about his room at Sandringham. That was off the Bachelors' Corridor. True, HM's private secretaries used a few of the rooms, but in one of these rooms was where the Duke of Clarence died. Queen Alexandra kept the room in aspic for years. A credible biographer, Pope-Hennessey or somesuch, described these rooms as "horrid". But they were all used by royals for decades.

In the documentary about QEII done in 1992, HM is filmed bringing a grandchild up into that corridor to see Robert Fellowes.

 

[yukari]

He mentions in the book that he has no interest on his family's history, past kings and such. If he has no interest in his ancestors, why would he put any mind to the history of furniture?

 

[Curryong]

We don’t know that William has a huge knowledge of the provenance of the paintings, furniture and artefacts in the apartments of the Royal Palaces at all. It’s never been remarked by any media that he has a great interest in the design or history of furniture or art. Prince Charles, yes, Queen Mary almost certainly, Kate perhaps, but we don’t know about William.

And I believe it was Sir Roy Strong who observed that the Queen and Prince Philip at least had little knowledge of the history of paintings hanging on Palace walls.

Also, as far as family history goes, it was stated at the time of his wedding in 2011 that William didn’t want to be a Duke and Kate a Duchess as the titles sounded suited to older people and he wanted to stay as Prince William. If that’s true then he didn’t know much at the time about the titles .

 

[Heavs]

It sounds like a scene from a Jilly Cooper novel. A prince and a groom sneaked out of the pub for rumpy-pumpy and backside-spanking in a field - it's exactly the sort of thing she'd write! I really don't know why Harry felt the need to share it with the world.

I was about to say it seemed like a Jilly Cooper novel. There are also plenty of adult characters have sex with teens in her books so I think he was trying to be especially salacious with us thinking it was one of those type of characters and not someone who is younger than his wife.

I don't feel sorry for him that she told her side of the story, especially since her name probably would come out sooner or later. And it's hard to argue the tabloids would have been kind to her if she refused to speak out given how Harry described it or that Harry thought it was a sex-positive portrayal of losing his virginity.

I do think they will come to regret invading their own privacy so much. Not only have they handed the tabloids a "well they publicly talked about this so..." they can even work it into "public interest" by claiming that investigating their private lives is germane to their accusations about the monarchy and individual family members.

 

[yukari]

(...)

Also, as far as family history goes, it was stated at the time of his wedding in 2011 that William didn’t want to be a Duke and Kate a Duchess as the titles sounded suited to older people and he wanted to stay as Prince William. If that’s true then he didn’t know much at the time about the titles .

Genuine question, did this statement come from a "named person" or from a "source" similar to one who claimed Harry had the ring and gave it to William (which turns out to be false as Harry denies it in the book)?

 

[Denville]

We don’t know that William has a huge knowledge of the provenance of the paintings, furniture and artefacts in the apartments of the Royal Palaces at all. It’s never been remarked by any media that he has a great interest in the design or history of furniture or art. Prince Charles, yes, Queen Mary almost certainly, Kate perhaps, but we don’t know about William.

And I believe it was Sir Roy Strong who observed that the Queen and Prince Philip at least had little knowledge of the history of paintings hanging on Palace walls.

Also, as far as family history goes, it was stated at the time of his wedding in 2011 that William didn’t want to be a Duke and Kate a Duchess as the titles sounded suited to older people and he wanted to stay as Prince William. If that’s true then he didn’t know much at the time about the titles .

come on, how likely is it taht William said this? he knew Im sure that it was tradition that he got a title of DUke when he got married, and Im sure he iddn't complain about it or say he didnt want it.

 

[Denville]

Genuine question, did this statement come from a "named person" or from a "source" similar to one who claimed Harry had the ring and gave it to William (which turns out to be false as Harry denies it in the book)?

I doubt very much if it was for real, unless someone can give us a named person or something from William himself. There were stories around that Wil wanted Kate to be a princess in her own right as well. It is just the kind of filler story that comes up prior to a royal marriage.

 

[Denville]

A and Harry couldn't describe even one thing in there, other than how posh it was. His father and William could have probably cited the provenance of everything in the home. The Sussex's gap of knowledge in the decorative arts does not bode well. For Royals.

There is a tiny teensy chance he may be in a Regent position. The last Regent was the one who acquired that stateroom desk he talked about.

I dont really see what the decorative arts have to do wtih anyting. Harry's not into them, certainly and he was hardly going to write in his book a history of the Palace furniture. Its not something that interests most people if they see a personal memoir from a prince coming out, they are not going to buy it to read about paintings

 

[Denville]

I do think they will come to regret invading their own privacy so much. Not only have they handed the tabloids a "well they publicly talked about this so..." they can even work it into "public interest" by claiming that investigating their private lives is germane to their accusations about the monarchy and individual family members.

I agree tht Harry should have told her and been a bit more discreet but it is hardly that big a deal. A lad of 17 or so has his first sexual experince with a girl of 19. It happens to everyone, and while not everyone wants to tell the world, it is not something that is so terrible noone should mention it. I just wonder though if Harry would have been pleased if Sasha had sold her story some year ago and told the tabloids with graphic details. Or if he would be pleased if a boyfriend of Meghans had come out and detailed their romantic encounters in a newspaper
I think that there are many other things that he revealed in the book that are far worse than a perfectly normal bit about his first sexual fling. I never expected him to write about the history of the RF or the art on the walls or the like. Did anyone really think that was what he was going to come out with?

 

[Moran]

I don't expect of public figures to reveal perfectly normal bits about their sexual flings without consulting the other person first when there is a high chance the other person will be identified, due to the public figure giving clues.

Anyway, the older woman bit did surprise me. The way he talked about it, it was like a woman in her 30s with huge sexual experience. If Sasha was an older woman, than what is Meghan who is older than him compared to Sasha? An old crone?

Come to think of it, I never had a boyfriend who was my age by Harry's exacting standards. They were always a year or two older or younger. I never felt like a helpless kitten discovering her inner tigress with an experienced older man or an older woman teaching a young and viral lad "the tricks".

Weird, all over.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

He mentions in the book that he has no interest on his family's history, past kings and such. If he has no interest in his ancestors, why would he put any mind to the history of furniture?

When Prince Harry was in school, did his teacher take him to each piece of furniture and give a detailed account of each? For example, the table or chair would be identified as Queen Anne or as William and Mary.

 

[Denville]

I don't expect of public figures to reveal perfectly normal bits about their sexual flings without consulting the other person first when there is a high chance the other person will be identified, due to the public figure giving clues.

Anyway, the older woman bit did surprise me. The way he talked about it, it was like a woman in her 30s with huge sexual experience. If Sasha was an older woman, than what is Meghan who is older than him compared to Sasha? An old crone?

Come to think of it, I never had a boyfriend who was my age by Harry's exacting standards. They were always a year or two older or younger. I never felt like a helpless kitten discovering her inner tigress with an experienced older man or an older woman teaching a young and viral lad "the tricks".

Weird, all over.

I think people are making too much of a fuss about this, he should have told Sasha, but he didnt. but he might have made out she was an older woman because he was trying to conceal her identity. I dont suppose H is trying to say that all couples have to be exactly the same age.

 

[Denville]

When Prince Harry was in school, did his teacher take him to each piece of furniture and give a detailed account of each? For example, the table or chair would be identified as Queen Anne or as William and Mary.

why would any teacher do this.

 

[Granada]

Asteria12, respectfully disagree, I don't think Harry is viewed by fellow celeb comedians as simply "topical"...... I think he had made himself "comical" and fair game to mock. The weird part to me is the "joke" wasn't even funny. Its like Trevor Noah just wanted to have a go at Harry anyway.

Once People lose respect for you, its a hard slog to get it back.

I'm actually surprised Saturday Night Live didn't have a go at him and his "todger". Man, those frostbitten skits could write themselves. But then SNL is a shell of itself now comedy wise too.

And as for Sasha, I think She handled her privacy been violated with grace. Very well done. I mostly hope, that She got a nice check for telling her side too, by the Media. Making lemonade out of lemons.
Can you imagine how absolutely apocalyptic Harry would have been had Sasha sold this " tale" to the Media, say around the time of the Wedding ?

Just think, next year at this time Harry and "Spare" might win the Grammy for Best Audio Book Narration.