Review: Spare by Prince Harry
“I’m glad I did and I wish I hadn’t” - me, as I finished this.
What a mix of emotions this book provoked in me. I’ll say upfront I am very much not a fan of the monarchy as an institution - and Spare has done nothing to persuade me otherwise.
As I don’t appear to be able to identify an overriding sentiment or feeling I’m left with, allow me to identify a couple of the contenders.
Spare
Penguin Random House, 2023
Compassion - for the young boy left motherless at such a young age, who for ever after chases reassurance, approbation and love - which those surrounding him seemed entirely unable or unwilling to provide for him.
Rage - at a rabid press who seem more or less free to print the most outrageous lies and speculation, creating their own narrative and not caring who gets hurt in the process. This we know is true - and yet they still seem to drive opinion. Harry says in this book that the British are some of the most educated yet the most credulous in the world and I don’t doubt it.
Recognition - so many of the experiences Harry details in Spare are common to all people. Friendship, career, love and family, there is so much anyone can relate to.
And yet. And yet. He acknowledges on more than one occasion his immense privilege; though usually followed up by a reminder of all the freedom he exchanged for it. He never asked to be born into the family, and he does seem to do a range of humanitarian and ecology work. But every few pages there’d be a “something a bit bad happened and I needed to get away so I popped to Botswana / Las Vegas / one of Granny’s estates” and … very little acknowledgement of the fact the awful things happen to lots of people and no one offers them a villa in France or California to help them deal.
He seems fundamentally like a decent guy, who really loves his wife and kids, and is willing to stand up for that. Good for him, wish more men did as much. Do I believe 100% in his bewildered, beleaguered and bemused persona, the nice guy who just wants good things for those around him? Maybe. He has been treated horribly by people who should have cared for him. His wife certainly didn’t deserve any of the horrific abuse she had to endure. Will we ever hear the other side of these stories? Probably not: “never complain, never explain”. Urgh. I hope to see the day the whole institution is dismantled.
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