Page 5 | To be annoyed at Prince Harry's memoir title SPARE

benisright · 2022-10-27T12:25:16+00:00

I have zero interest in this couple who seem to enjoy making a living on moaning about how they are poorly treated in Britain. Just saw the headline news and the cover of Harry's memoir with his face and one single word SPARE. Get a life for goodness sake. I'm about his age and never once thought of him as a spare. He kinda invented his own tale.

PrincessofWellies · 27/10/2022 14:30

Losing a mother in tragic circumstances aged 10 must have been very difficult, but there does become a point when you need to not let past tragedy frame your life and move forward.

The fact he has immense wealth means he can access all of the help he needs. Perhaps he needs to do that as I can't imagine this not impacting his own children.

FurAndFeathers · 27/10/2022 14:30

candykittensareoverrated · 27/10/2022 13:29

It’s awful. Demonstrates how much of a victim he thinks he is. I am fed up of the victim narrative

Yeah, I mean family members calling him Spare as a kid is hilarious and kind isn’t it?

oh no actually it’s not

nokidshere · 27/10/2022 14:30

I just do not understand why people feel they should be able to decide what Harry thinks and feels?

Can you Imagine feeling depressed, unhappy, or sidelined and someone coming along and saying 'get a grip, what do you have to complain about'?

You might not agree with the way he has decided to deal with it but you cannot dismiss his feelings just because you think he has no right to feel that way. His family are, to him, toxic and he has felt that way since he was a teenager.

Prinnny · 27/10/2022 14:30

He must be a fan of ten pin bowling.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 27/10/2022 14:31

I'm aware of how the second son (secong child, now) gets labelled, but it seems a pretty loaded choice of title and could suggest more victim narratives coming up

Probably best, though, to wait and see what it actually says ...

Fruitbatt · 27/10/2022 14:31

I have never once read that the ‘spare’ was his nickname within the Royal family.

crumpetswithjam · 27/10/2022 14:31

candykittensareoverrated · 27/10/2022 13:29

It’s awful. Demonstrates how much of a victim he thinks he is. I am fed up of the victim narrative

How do you have any idea whatsoever about the dynamics of his family?

Luredbyapomegranate · 27/10/2022 14:32

QueefofSheena · 27/10/2022 13:33

I think it’s quite clever marketing. You’ve no interest OP, yet you have started a thread on it. I’d say it’s doing it job at getting attention.

Exactly.

Anyway his publishers chose the title.

I agree the focus on the past probably isn’t doing him much good psychologically, but it will certainly sell the book, which will keep his profile up, so he can spend a few years earning a lot of money - which he needs to do to keep the lifestyle he’s used to.

TrashyPanda · 27/10/2022 14:32

I think it’s hilarious.

back when I grew up, if someone was “a spare” they were as thick as shit.

so very apt

antelopevalley · 27/10/2022 14:32

If he really was called that by some family members then it is bloody awful.

Choconut · 27/10/2022 14:33

Who would want to be the heir? Huge amount of pressure, stress, expectation and to have to constantly 'perform'.
Funny it never used to seem that Harry saw himself as some sort of 'spare' or victim, wonder where that idea has come from.
Selling books on what a victim he is while living in a mansion in Montecito worth 11 million just makes me want to punch him in the face, and I'm not a violent person.

Isaidnoalready · 27/10/2022 14:33

Thesearmsofmine · 27/10/2022 14:26

Surely you aren’t naïve enough to believe a privileged upbringing means a healthy loving upbringing?

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Surely you don't believe the utter drivel about daddy never took me on bike rides? Easily disproved nonsense

It's easier to be healthy and happy if your wealthy

It's easy to be miserable when your cold hungry and everything you want is "too expensive" where everyone is on holiday but you the world is your oyster as long as you have the Internet and can look at it

For privileged children getting that kind of misery you need to work on it im sorry your crown is heavy sorry you have to walk SO FAR through the Palace ahhh the servants didn't have your favourite macro vegan whatever this week oooh it must be mortally wounding when your horse doesn't win etc etc

Popgoestheweaselagain · 27/10/2022 14:34

AlizeeEasy · 27/10/2022 14:21

There’s a lot of dehumanising going on in this thread. Harry did have a very privileged life, or course, but he is still human. He is still entitled to feel how he he feels about his family, his life, and his upbringing. You don’t have to read it. I won’t be. I believe there should not even be a royal family.

But let’s try and remember that this is a human being, he has faced the normal challenges that many of us face regarding grief and feeling sidelined by the people who are supposed to care the most about us.

Many people on mumsnet make threads talking about their childhood and their relationships with their families and I’ve never seen the type of things being said there being expressed on those threads, it really isn’t that different.

Yeah, only $20 million different😂

BellePeppa · 27/10/2022 14:34

Well he’s still a spare only this time it’s in his marriage.

Moveoverdarlin · 27/10/2022 14:34

I certainly don’t think the media in the UK portrayed him as a spare. If anything he was the most popular Royal for years. It’s only the last few years the wheels have come off.

MNMH · 27/10/2022 14:36

It's literally the title. You've come to all these conclusions from a book that hasn't been published, that you haven't read and don't plan to read. It's really bizzare how worked up everyone is getting over this.

AlizeeEasy · 27/10/2022 14:36

Popgoestheweaselagain · 27/10/2022 14:34

Yeah, only $20 million different😂

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Sure, and I am against the idea of there even being the mega wealthy. It doesn’t stop someone being human, he also didn’t get that money through nefarious means. He was born into it, if anyone us had being born into it we likely wouldn’t throw it away either. Still doesn’t mean you can’t be unhappy or have unpleasant experiences

idonotmind · 27/10/2022 14:37

Obviously context here is huge

The 'spare' that he was wasn't a bad spare to be!

But unsurprisingly our Harry has turned it into something negative?

Let me get my tiny violin our for you, Harry, 5th in line, worth 40 million.

TerraNostra · 27/10/2022 14:38

It's also a clever pun- Will he SPARE anyone from his criticism?"
Don't SPARE the details Harry!"

The Queen's father was the Spare, that situation must have influenced how the RF saw the second child of the heir to the throne.

Popgoestheweaselagain · 27/10/2022 14:38

AlizeeEasy · 27/10/2022 14:36

Sure, and I am against the idea of there even being the mega wealthy. It doesn’t stop someone being human, he also didn’t get that money through nefarious means. He was born into it, if anyone us had being born into it we likely wouldn’t throw it away either. Still doesn’t mean you can’t be unhappy or have unpleasant experiences

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$20 million was his advance for writing the book. I don't believe anybody has ever been paid $20 million for having a moan about their childhood on mumsnet. That's the difference.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 27/10/2022 14:38

No one really knows the truth do they? They are assuming Harry and Meghan are liars but who knows?

With a lot of it I'd agree, because people make up the most ridiculous things and take everything they read on some internet sewer as fact

However there have also been numerous times - listed endlessly on here - where they've provably been caught out saying things which weren't true, so it's hard to blame anyone for using a certain caution around their claims

georgarina · 27/10/2022 14:39

The victim mentality and attention seeking is so unattractive

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 27/10/2022 14:40

Heir and a spare is a very common expression and it's really neither here nor there if you've never heard it.

WahineToa · 27/10/2022 14:42

or about anyone who had a bad childhood and hard life?

what a dumb question. Really. I fit the criteria, so do people I know, people whose stories I read, watch or listen to. You know, like your average person. Lots and lots of people write amazing books about their lives and many are just as interesting. I’m surprised this is news to you. Do you read?

AnonyMouseToday · 27/10/2022 14:43

I'm so sick of Prince Harry.

Don't get me wrong, if he ever splits from Megan (which I'm fairly sure will happen at some point) I will feel really bad for him, as he'll be in a real spot then - not wanted anywhere. I also, obviously, feel v sad for him that he lost his mum at a young age and has been through troubles in his life.

However, he seems to forget that NEARLY EVERYONE has had troubles in their life. Trauma, loss, bullying whatever.

We all just get on with it. Harry has had the privilege of years and years of therapy (most people can't even get 12 sessions on the NHS), wealth to fall back on, few money worries. He has a lot going for him (millions in the bank, a wife, children, living in a country he chose to live in). He should stop moaning and just live his life. Preferably away from the public eye like he'd always claimed he wanted

I'd have so so much respect for him if he and Megan had disappeared, downsized and settled for a quiet life away from the cameras. He would still be the poster boy in the UK if he's done this would still be loved like he always was. However, constantly berrating your family in public to the world, being on the cover of every magazine, seems a bit hypocritical for the boy who supposedly hates the press and wanted privacy his whole life.