Bookclub for Spare

[BornBlonde]

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

It would matter to me. I thought the little bridesmaids looked awful with bare legs.

@Blossomtoes if it was my wedding, in the summer for example, and I was paying for the dresses and it's what I wanted, if we were friends, your daughter was a BM. Wouldn't you just suck it up even if you privately disagreed?

It's as if there is a strict protocol someone, somewhere enforces and Kate is worried about falling foul of that?

It's as if there is a strict protocol someone, somewhere enforces and Kate is worried about falling foul of that?

Or Kate just wanted her daughter to be comfortable?

They weren’t friends. If it was my daughter and it was a wedding that was going to be televised across the globe, no I wouldn’t suck it up. In fact I’d be tempted to withdraw my daughter from the entire thing. I suspect it might have only have been Charlotte’s excitement and not wanting to disappoint her that prevented Kate from doing exactly that.

Haven't there been 1K or so posts on Mn explaining that the shoes were uncomfortable without socks or tights and the very wide dress could lift with a gust of wind revealing royal underwear to millions. Charlotte had just turned three a few weeks before the wedding so was very, very young and just out of toddlerhood. It's Charlotte's parents responsibility what she wears and such a young child should not feel uncomfortable for a wedding and certainly not while being watched by many millions of people. It's really just common sense.

@TelItHappy @Blossomtoes I see. I would have gone along with Kate for that reason. No biggie. All feels rather a storm in a teacup but Meghan really doubled down on it. Where's the sense of humour amongst this group? Laughter diffuses a lot.

Could it be that MM doubled down on the tights thing to clutch at some misdirected sense of control as the stuff with TM was going down the pan.

Could be the K just inadvertently walked in on a highly charged emotional situation which had huge global significance and exposure to MM re TM and was just the passing target onto whom she disproportionately discharged her wrath?

You have put your finger on something there. Thomas apparently had a very low profile at MM's first wedding. He said he was not comfortable with the beach wedding at his age as everyone there was younger. I think he is a hugely self conscious man, and when it came down to it, he just couldn't face being part of such a big and public occasion, especially after being so massacred in the media. Poor man.

I think so. Yes.

Those who are listening to Spare, is it true that Harry sings in the audio book? I have heard a clip that sounds like him but it's so bad I think it must be a spoof.

Private Eye has lots of interesting stuff but this little moment did make me laugh:

Love the lemons quote! Thanks so much for sharing. What’s their next step, I wonder?

I was musing, Harry has “corrected” Meghan re protocol, eg in plain view getting her to turn round and pay attention when they were on the balcony.

Another poster observed that “Meghan does Meghan” which is true, and that she has the “quality” of unwavering self-belief.

It seems that gradually Harry has bought into the Meghan cult too and by the time of writing Spare she is utterly blameless and an emblem of all that is good and kind.

This seems to be the polarisation going on - experiences and observations by many of their staff resulted in many complaints about her “callous” behaviour towards staff reached the MSM - so this book has to offer the alternative - a “glowing” opposite image.

It was the same with NF where they presented a very different image to being on OW where MM was v serious, harsh and heavy and NF was to present as young , fun, carefree.

Yes , very well observed, as to the ‘paragon of virtue’ re: Meghan @ThighMistress she’s been idealised & pedestalised by him & is she ‘his mother’ on earth again & all that was best & noblest in her. She really is an ‘Earth Angel’ in his mind.

The problems may be:

1. What are the implications for him then, will/can she exert complete control? Is he really ‘the hostage’ as some palace staff allegedly said?
2. What happens as/if the scales fall from his eyes in this regard?
3. For whatever reason she dumps/leaves him in the future?

To add, and @Tigresses , one issue, according to some staff/observers/author: Bowers, is her apparently inability to compromise & extreme single mindedness & dogmatism.

It’s a trait highly successful people often share, a ‘red’ characteristic: ‘be bright, be brief, be gone’.

@PeverellshireI am curious: if you died, who do you think would give the best eulogy at your funeral, summarising your character, your contributions, the meaning of your life? Would it be someone who hates you or someone who loves you?

Or someone who knows you are human with all flaws that we have.

I laughed when I read him saying he didn’t ‘expect many people kept this woman waiting’ putting her on such a pedestal isn’t healthy imo.

I agree with this and it’s a shame his daughter can’t find any compassion for an unwell elderly man out of his depth.

On the GMB link above he spoke about the two cardiovascular incidents requiring hospitalisation and surgery - no doubt triggered by stress - as to why he couldn’t get to the wedding.

In her Tig piece MM talks about how devoted he was to her - how he worked 70 hr weeks to pay for everything that elevated her opportunities.

I struggle to see how they can have a charity set up around compassion in action when they are not able to walk the talk in their own immediate family. Charity begins at home at the total cut off seems callous when someone is so ill, old and vulnerable.

Reaching out for reconciliation, rebuilding etc would restore some integrity in their “brand values”

What an interesting question @MrsMaxDeWinter [are you the first or second]? Will ponder, in the meantime will pass it back to you, who would re: Maxim ?

[Have you read the sequels by the way?]

[Also, which is more like Meghan, the unnamed heroine or Rebecca? unnamed’ def wouldn’t google & wouldn’t know how to curtsey & would genuinely mistake prince Andrew for a servant ]. [Who would get through the most staff though? Interestingly, probs not Rebecca, but it was the 30s then. Poss still is at the ‘palace’ & therein lies one of the problems].:)

I only ask because you seem to be willing to accept without question everything that Tom Bower has said about Meghan, when he has admitted publicly that"it is Meghan I'm after", and that he spoke to people who didn't like her as his sources. You don’t seem willing to listen to the many people who have come out on record to say she is actually a nice person, there were never any issues with her co-workers, she was great with crew etc. Even her father has said she has "never been a rude person."

Meghan is not perfect, no one is, and she is as flawed as anyone. In that respect, she is more like the first Mrs De Winter than the annoying second one.

I think that PH is deeply problematic, rude and obnoxious to staff behind closed doors - and this has been tolerated for years - I expect MM under pressure copied this behaviour but that this wasn’t tolerated from an “outsider” and the burden of both of them behaving in a demanding, entitled way rubbed people up the wrong way and hostilities developed.

MM has had to hustle her whole career - she was never the leading lady / star in anything - so in order to gain work, hang on to work she needed to “kiss-up” to colleagues to maintain a reputation as someone memorable and good to work with. She wouldn’t have had any staff to manage so maybe the first time she had she didn’t know how to do it effectively and her only role model was the reactive and unstable PH?

@Tigresses what excellent points! Surely this could rehabilitate their ‘brand’ arguably better than anything else! And go a long way to build bridges all round. As you say.

Both H & M, as you or someone else said, seem oddly devoid of empathy & unable and/or unwilling to see another’s perspective? Could it be as both badly damaged?

Meghan championed the underdog at High School. (On Twitter) an old high school friend has shown, she’s kept unsolicited very kind notes Meghan sent encouraging confidence & her leading best life. This genuine care for others has been consistently noted.

I am not sure either H or M, find it easy to ‘forgive & forget’? Harry, rather tragically I think, can’t seem to bring himself to believe William ultimately desires his happiness. Does he, himself, not want William to be happy?

It’s as if Harry thinks it’s unnatural & malevolent to fight or squabble with a sibling or anyone else. So, Meghan’s apparent perfection makes all other relationships fundamentally flawed.

(I HAVE seen this re: therapy where ‘poor therapists’ drive those they are ‘helping’ to seemingly condemn the relatively minor, past missteps of their parents, often through a lens of 30/40 years ago, in today’s terms. E.g: Sunday afternoons taking kids to the pub & plonking them in the pub garden with crisps & coke & a soggy straw. They SHOULD have taken their son to football or the library).

Do both H & M bear a grudge? Thomas apparently criticised the lighting on suits…& this deeply upset her. Was she holding a grudge over the photo debacle & his interviews?

Thomas does come across as a father who did his best, that’s really interesting re: the Tig. How lovely.

I just can’t understand why M didn’t see, for all good reasons given, she needed to be planned & proactive around Thomas. M didn’t go to see him with H early on AND realise he needed to be over here to be acclimatised & have full support. He needed to be over for suit fittings too, in the flesh.

Doria had dress designer meetings MONTHS ahead of schedule & Meghan turned up to show her sketches of the wedding dress, why not visit Dad then too?

Doria was ensconced at Cliveden in advance. Was hotel accommodation booked & organised for Thomas?

Thomas apparently visited Doria’s home In wedding run up to deliver flowers for mother’s day. Thoughtful & kind.

Doria, allegedly, is not a Thomas fan & I assume is close to Meghan. Was this a factor? It’s interesting Thomas blames Doria at times around wedding when there is a spat or miscommunication with Meghan.

Anecdotally, I have noticed that people who have been worshipped by parents/others & had every whim pandered to, seem to find if almost impossible to forgive very minor or major transgressions.

If Harry and Meghan sued every person who said untruthful things about them, they would have a thousand law suits a day.

They have only ever sued newspapers. For obvious reasons. It's about press accountability.

Suing Tom Bower would only amplify his nonsense. He desperately wants them to sue, and is amplifying his attacks hoping for a lawsuit.

It's not going to happen because their lawsuits are strategic and only against newspapers.