Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The royal family
Original poster

Bookclub for Spare

615 replies

BornBlonde · 05/01/2023 20:28

I know there are loads of threads, but thought it may be useful to set up a bookclub thread ahead of the release date fir those interested. I've ordered the audiobook as struggling to find time to read at the moment but love I can listen to an Audiobook while cooking etc

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Pugdogmom · 14/01/2023 11:57

JustWhattheDoctorOrdered · 13/01/2023 22:07

@Pugdogmom I don’t understand how anyone could find the book boring. It’s full of totally new pieces of information about the royal family and even trivial things like being given a biro for Christmas by Princess Margaret I found entertaining. But each to their own!

I also don’t understand the point of saying you find it unbelievable. Everybody in the whole world (including you)has a different take on the same events. In Harry’s case his memories and perceptions are coloured by trauma and a feeling that he has been short changed in life. He isn’t lying. That is how he honestly sees it. The book isn’t a work of history or a documentary and he is very open himself about how subjective it is. I must have read hundreds of autobiographies and I totally accept that they about that person’s experience of the world, they are not supposed to be a collection of facts. To get a full picture you might have to read other people’s accounts but that doesn’t make the writer a liar or their own account of their life not worth reading. There seem to be plenty of examples in the book where Harry has misremembered unimportant details eg. getting an Xbox and other examples where his feelings are obviously coloured with envy or defensiveness. But that’s just more information about who he is. He has a poor memory of his mother because of trauma and he sees himself as a victim. He’s a human being. That’s the way human beings are.

Well we have HIS version of the truth. It's his perspective. However doesn't mean it is the truth. As the RF said " recollections may vary". Not saying I believe the RF either. The truth is somewhat in the middle. I am neither a RF fan, or H and M fan for the record. No horse in this race for me.
I am bored with it because some of the stuff he writes is actually quite nasty and the 5 line sentences are irritating to say the least. Detracts from anything interesting.

Everyone's opinions are valid whether you like it or otherwise.

Rhondaa · 14/01/2023 11:57

'Nothing stopping the 'royals' from coming clean about their drugs , affairs , lies'

You're missing the point. The pp suggested Harold needed to vent all is tawdry goss lest anyone drop him in it. Seemingly oblivious to the fact he is doing just that with his tales about others.

He needs to decide is he for invasion of privacy or against it?! Or is it a case of it's the Markles motto 'do as we say not as we do silly!'.

Pugdogmom · 14/01/2023 11:59

When I say " like it or otherwise ", I'm referring to the book, not posters opinions. Sorry, didn't make that clear.

Aspiringmatriarch · 14/01/2023 11:59

Novella4 · 14/01/2023 11:28

Harry will be saying more about Charles, Camilla and William in the next book
What has that got to do with Charles' book - which was mainly about trying to repair his unpopularity?

He's specifically said he wasn't going to share those things publicly. This memoir is it - the other books are about different things.

Novella4 · 14/01/2023 11:59

@Coucous
I see what you are saying

But I think Charles is more panicked about what might be said re Camilla .
I do t know if he cares much about what is said about William. There is a lot of 'briefing against' from BH and KP

MrsMaxDeWinter · 14/01/2023 12:00

@Coucous Imagine the MN thread:

My sister-in-law is making my wedding all about her and her DD crying over a too big dress while I am in a crisis because my father has dropped out of the wedding after selling pap photos to the media, has had a heart attack and I am scrambling to contain the public fallout. Am I being unreasonable to wish she would just give me a break, take her DD to have the dress altered by the tailor I have organised, and stop stressing me out?

SuperPug · 14/01/2023 12:05

The part about mocking the matron who couldn’t walk properly up the stairs (with seemingly little regret as an adult) was unnecessarily nasty. And comments about the general public, such as when William goes to meet people the day before his wedding, are almost sneering.

Aspiringmatriarch · 14/01/2023 12:05

MechanicaHound · 14/01/2023 11:31

Harry's account of BridesmaidGate has been roundly debunked by the tailor Ajay. Far from 'there's a tailor waiting all morning at Windsor, just bring Charlotte round', in fact Ajay and his team of three were working round the clock to fix ALL the bridesmaid dresses which were extremely badly fitting. No wonder Kate was stressed.

It hasn't been debunked. I would imagine the dresses were fixed after the fitting, which is dated to around four days before the wedding I believe. So the two stories actually fit well together. No wonder Kate was stressed? It was Meghan's wedding! I imagine they were all stressed but especially her.

Inkanta · 14/01/2023 12:06

Why did Kate have to say Charlotte was crying when the dress was too big. That felt a bit passive and off to me. That didn't make Kate look good - but then again Kate was being herself in that momement and probably a bit pissed off for whatever reason. That's okay - we get a glimpse into Kate.

toomuchlaundry · 14/01/2023 12:08

@Aspiringmatriarch but from H&M’s point of view it appears Kate was in the wrong, whereas she seems to have been right that actually the dresses did need to be remade, but instead a tailor and his team had to do their best, and as you can see from Charlotte’s dress they couldn’t fix it entirely. Kate could have kept quiet and I bet they would have moaned at her if she did

Rhondaa · 14/01/2023 12:10

Inkanta · 14/01/2023 12:06

Why did Kate have to say Charlotte was crying when the dress was too big. That felt a bit passive and off to me. That didn't make Kate look good - but then again Kate was being herself in that momement and probably a bit pissed off for whatever reason. That's okay - we get a glimpse into Kate.

It was a private message! The question you should asking is why they felt it needed to revealed in his awful book, when they themselves have gone on at length about how invading privacy and gossiping is wrong. Except when they do it.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:12

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

PreparationPreparationPrep · 14/01/2023 12:15

So all the other mums / nannies had taken the dresses/ girls to Ajay so why couldn't Kate just do the same and send the nanny with Charlotte. Why make it a big deal? What else did she want Meghan to do?

toomuchlaundry · 14/01/2023 12:16

But @Coucous the dresses probably did need remaking, if it took a team 4 days to try and rectify them and still couldn’t do it properly.

Coxspurplepippin · 14/01/2023 12:22

This reply has been deleted

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Or, having been through a royal wedding herself she realised the scrutiny every aspect would command and was perhaps trying to save Meghan a bit of angst. She wasn't wrong - most fashion experts reckoned Meghan's dress didn't fit properly.

So, a fairly trivial matter, Kate apologises, send flowers but Harry and Meghan hang on to the grievance for years then Harry puts it in the book. Petty and ridiculous.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:22

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:24

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:28

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:29

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:31

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Coxspurplepippin · 14/01/2023 12:34

We haven't a clue whether the text exchange has been reported accurately. With Harry's record it's actually unlikely. If this is all they have to have a pop at Kate over they're coming across as petty and ridiculous in the extreme.

Novella4 · 14/01/2023 12:34

I'm just guessing it I suspect since Harry has made it known that there is more ( specifically focussed on William and Charles /Camilla ) Harry may be hoping that his family will listen and he'll get the apology he longs for

Novella4 · 14/01/2023 12:35

( I doubt he will get the apology btw and there will be part 2 electricbugaloo !

Inkanta · 14/01/2023 12:40

This reply has been deleted

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Yes Kate came across a bit manipulative there and Meghan a bit snappy. Both being authentic though. Whether right or wrong that this private conversatuon has gone public Harry in this book is revealing the real sides to people and the ugly sides to himself. That's what I'm getting in the book. I imagine he's sick to the back teeth of royal fakeness and pretending. He didn't consent to it - he was was born into it.

Coucous · 14/01/2023 12:40

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Swipe left for the next trending thread