“I heard the story of what Pa allegedly said to Mummy the day of my birth: Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an Heir and a Spare—my work is done. A joke. Presumably. On the other hand, minutes after delivering this bit of high comedy, Pa was said to have gone off to meet with his girlfriend.”

This quote comes from the recently released and highly controversial memoir, Spare, by the Duke of Sussex, and previous Prince Harry of Wales. The reference to Harry being a “spare,” Harry’s longtime nickname, is where the book’s name originated.

Released on January 10th, 2023, the 416 page book provides a completely new angle on royal society, never shared before.

Throughout the memoir, Harry reflects on most of his life, from addressing his mother’s death in painful detail, to the battles he went through with the media and the press. Harry elaborates on his complex relationships with friends and family particularly because of the unique life circumstances of royalty. 

One example of the interesting topics covered in this book includes commentary about Harry’s criticisms of the press: “All my life I’d heard jokes about the links between royal misbehavior and centuries of inbreeding, but it was then that I realized: Lack of genetic diversity was nothing compared to press gaslighting.”

One particular piece in the book that rubbed me, and many others, the wrong way was that Harry seemed to be complaining about some privileged things, such as losing his financial security, social status, and identity, after leaving his royalty behind. In reality, Harry was just humbled more than he had ever been, and this was foreign to him. Another thing to be mindful about is the timeline of the book; it is tricky to follow because it is not structured in chapters, but rather parts, and they aren’t well distinguished from one another. 

Aside from those complaints, the memoir is beautifully written with very good attention to detail and word choice. An example of this is when Harry discusses his brother Willy’s perspective on the press, “First he had gotten them all worked up by ceasing to play their game, denying them unfettered access to his family. He’d refused several times to trot Kate out like a prized racehorse, and that was considered a bridge too far.” It was incredibly brave of Harry to release this to the public because it has been rumored for years that his mother, Princess Diana, was murdered and never got to tell her story.  Even after leaving the royals, this could be his final hurrah against his family. 

Another thing to be highly admired about this book is the former prince’s willingness to address his own past controversies. They hadn’t been addressed to the press until the release of this book, and it was imperative that he did so. For example, he brought up the time he went to a theme party dressed as a Nazi officer and told about how, after that moment, he took the time to be educated on what was wrong with what he did and seems to have learned from it.

Overall, this is a great read with very interesting perspectives of the world since it is written from a view at the top of the hierarchy. Controversial topics were addressed, and you truly get a feel of all the sides of being a royal: the good, the bad and the ugly.