Yes, he had to name her. I am glad he does.
It shows he is thinking about her as a real person.
Give over! In the extract it's quoted that he calls her "not much of a thing, always with a tired face and greasy hair". He calls her a thing! and you think he sees her as a real person?
There is no need for that description. None at all.
He comments negatively on her hair as if that has any bearing on anything. Because he wants to tell us precisely why this one particular woman didn't pass muster with his prepubescent dick.
It's not enough to say 'there was an older one I didn't like and I was little shit to her' he lays out her physical flaws (as he sees them) for everyone to hear (presumably so we can agree - yes, she was unfanciable).
It's bad enough what he did to humiliate her when he was a child, but describing her this way - when she is so clearly identifiable by her place of work, job role, time she was there and disability (and that's even giving him the courtesy of assuming he changed her name) is just humiliating her all over again!
Even if he does show some self reflection and this passage comes with a heartfelt apology, the way he has talked about her in his narration shows he has not reflected far enough and still has no idea what is hurtful and what is not, or what is acceptable and what is not.
Even if he did reach out to Pat and ask if he could include what he did to her (unlikely) he probably didn't check 'can I call you a thing with greasy hair?' first.
Even if the passage turns it around completely and in full context Pat comes out a hero, he knows how royal books get serialised and bits taken out of context and published that way for the entire nation to read. Even not expecting a leak like has happened, he still knew that most people would hear about Pat via what the Daily Mail chose to include and not by reading his overpriced book. Therefore, even if the context absolves him of the continued bullying, he still didn't take due care to protect Pat and she is humiliated nevertheless.
If Harry wants to make a total tit of himself by telling us anecdotes about his cock, it's his cock - have at it. If he wants to paint a target on his family's back by counting taliban deaths - he's a dangerous muppet but he can do him, Meghan can work out for herself what she should do with a man that values her and her children's safety so lightly. When it comes to hurting the RF, this book is just the tip of the iceberg, he's been hurting them for a long time now - they are probably no more hurt than they were this time last week and they can at least see how public opinion is more and more on their side.
But the way he has singled out this one, ordinary woman, with no millions and no protection, and made her identifiable, described her greasy hair and stiff knees for the whole world to look at is totally disgusting and unforgivable. And anyone who even thinks about defending it should stop and consider how they would feel if their greasy hair was put in a book that was going to be sold across the globe and printed in papers.
I'm not sure Pat feels "seen" as much as she feels exposed. Despite never doing anything to invite public scrutiny herself, despite showing immense loyalty and professionalism in keeping quiet for 25 years about what a bullying little shit Hazza the good time prince was, we can all see her now, in her tired faced, deviated spined, unfanciable glory - just so the poor prince can earn another 36 mil to keep the lights on in his Montecito mansion. He had no right to do this to her and doing it was abhorrent. Defending it is little better.