Just finished 'Spare'...

[HerReputationMadeItDifficultToProceed]

… and I encourage anyone who’s even vaguely interested in this story to give it a read. Especially if what’s been leaked has made you at all angry, because I think in context everything makes a lot of sense.

I wasn’t a Harry and Meghan hater before reading this, but I wasn’t a fan girl either. Like many Brits, I find a lot of Americans- especially West Coast Americans- quite irritating and Meghan firmly falls into that camp for me. I’m sure she’s nice enough, but she’s very American and very perky and much like Wednesday Addams, I don’t do perky. However, I suspect that her intentions and generally good and that like most of us she’s got good and bad qualities. She’s clearly ambitious and I think that she probably initially dated Harry based on that ambition and on getting a platform, although I think that she genuinely loves him now.

The ghost writer has done a great job at capturing Harry’s personality I think; he comes across as introspective and thoughtful but funny and bright.

I think that Harry has a good soul; I think that he’s kind and has had a hard time of it growing up. I also think he’s a bit clueless and naive and has been in a bubble, but I think he acknowledges that and wants to understand and change. Undoubtedly losing his mother at the age he was had more of an outward impact on him than it had on William. He’s also been a victim of his dad’s wishywashy parenting. It sounds like- and looks like to me from my vantage point as a normal citizen who knows bugger all except what I’ve seen in the media- that Charles has been there for his kids to an extent, but not in a hands on or especially useful way. It also seems clear that Charles has always put Camilla first. From almost the moment Diana died it seems that he wanted, above everything else, to rehabilitate Camilla’s image so that they could marry. I think that he put that above being a father and the way Harry writes about their relationship makes that clear too.

I also think that it’s suited the palace to portray Harry as dimwitted and feckless to show William in a better light and that Harry has every right to be angry about that and not want to play that game anymore (and to call it out now). Especially as it’s obvious that the palace haven’t kept up their side of the bargain and protected Harry from the media in return.

I also think that the media have treated H and M poorly and it’s clearly the case that the palace has used them and news stories about them to divert from other newsworthy problems… certainly Prince Andrew, perhaps William’s affair/s. Is Harry overly jumpy about the media and the paparazzi in particular? Yes, of course. Who wouldn’t be with his background. But they’ve also obviously been hounded and harassed.

I do think that Harry is on a journey that he isn’t at the end of yet, but I think that he realises that too. I think that he was always going to leave the royal family and that Meghan didn’t cause what’s happened, she was just the catalyst for it. I think that he’s been scapegoated and an afterthought within his nuclear family and I don’t blame him for being angry. I think that he means well and is essentially good. And I don’t think that anyone who’s read the whole book would be able to disagree.

More than anything I think it’s clear that the British Royal Family is no longer fit for purpose; the way they live, bring up their children, pay their members for work and demand unrealistic levels of protocol and formality is no longer working in the 21st century. These people need purpose and lives beyond the crown and those on the edges of the heir shouldn’t have to live their lives in service of the their. Realistically H and M could have worked as royals and had private interests, the RF chose not to bend to help them live fulfilling lives because of its own, outdated reasons.

Diana hadn’t seen the boys for a month. That is a very long time for a mother not to see their children for.

😂
Good satire

Even the much of stuff about British media is wrong - as shown by examples he quotes being provably incorrect by looking at the archive. He is unable to take an objective view of the media because of his anger towards it. But at the same time using the same media to get back at his family for perceived wrongs.

True.

Diana has absolutely nothing to do with this utter shit show though... nothing.

@Fieldfly Do you think that choice to send them to boarding school was hers or even only hers? Are you forgetting they were divorced and they were at that time, on their father's time? What did you expect Diana to do when their father had them? Seriously, what did you expect her to do?

Harry is the one mentioning his mother, despite having only vague memories of her

So she was on a yacht out in the middle of the ocean, and didn't expect any press around, so she was still wrong to wear a swimsuit, on a yacht and gasp - kiss her own boyfriend?

Have a listen to yourself.

She spoke to them frequently including the day before she died, and was due to meet up with them later on the day she died.

It might seem a long time but it was probably normal to them esp as boys were at boarding school too.

Harry brings her in constantly saying his mother was killed because she was with dodi the whole grave thing the hair helping meghan get pregnant the whole book is a my wife is like my mum and the family was jealous and scared

It's called having joint custody, @Fieldfly . It means they spend half the time with her, and half the time with their father.

That is what a divorce does.

Not when they were at boarding school and had divorced parents. Do you think most pupils at boarding school see their parents every week?

She knew they were there she made headlines the whole trip they got pictures of her with her boys as they joined her for part of it its disingenuous to suggest she was stupid enough to think they weren't taking pictures with telephoto lenses they were ALWAYS doing it

I'm not saying its right I'm just saying she knew they would be there short of taking the boat out to an area where you could clearly see miles in every direction she never could guarantee her privacy (and face it they would have hired a fucking helicopter to get the shot)

Did he mention this bird shooting incident in the book?

That is definitely one of the things I'd have liked to have seen from our environmental warrior along with an apology for killing a water buffalo and gurning triumphantly over its corpse.

@ImAvingOops @UWhatNow @BadgerB I have just caught up with all 15 pages and meant to respond to these 3 posters, who I feel have demonstrated just how easily brainwashed people are by the media narrative. On this site, we have Stately Homes threads for children of dysfunctional families, we have threads where people are encouraged to go NC with their family if the family is toxic to them, yet Meghan is blamed and it is her fault that she is NC with her father's side of the family. If Meghan was a poster on here posting as an ordinary person, she'd be supported for being NC. Yet, some posters like the above are so brainwashed and manipulated both by the media and their own hate of her (based on what they see in the media), that her father's abusive side of the family is HER fault! And apart from her father's side, she has not 'alienated' anyone else at all, so why the need to not only blame her for being NC with her dangerous and dysfunctional father and siblings, but to make up a blatant lie that she 'alienates' everyone when that is so very clearly not true?

The media has pushed a narrative that Meghan is bad for being NC with a toxic and harmful family, and posters like the above are so gullible and easily manipulated, they truly believe it and eat the narrative up.

And asking people you've never met - How are you emotionally? That's bloody weird. I agree there are two sides - his professional side where he comes across as robotic and not all professional people chose to come across as dull - that's the way he has chosen to present himself, none of us know who he really is - how many of us thought he had it in him to assault Harry - his public persona might be as dull as shite but he's a dark horse I think with quite a few secrets up his sleeve.

Regular polls would disagree with you, Harry and Meghan are not the most hated Royals, that accolade does belong to Prince Andrew!

Perhaps the reason why Andrew is not so often and openly slated in the ‘tabloids’, is because he doesn’t actually keep pushing himself into the public glare, therefore really nothing new to really say about him! Harry and Meghan, on the other hand, keep uping the vitriol to keep themselves in the public eye and relevant!

This book is ‘media’ too and also has a narrative that many people are falling for

I didn't read the book and probably won't. I did watch the ITV interview and came away with similar conclusions. Some of his grievances might be petty and he does sound tone deaf at times. But I 100% believe he and Meghan were fed to the media vultures by the people he felt very close to and it broke his heart. Even if all his other grievances are petty or deluded, this one is serious enough to cause a rift that only a lot of soul searching from everyone involved might repair. And it's clear that's not happening.

She called the press to come take pictures of her. Letting them know where she was! They would park the yacht in places that would be good for someone to take photographs.
She did expect press, don’t be so ridiculous.

No, it isn't 'media'. It is also an autobiography. Do you automatically disbelieve every autobiography, or just ones you've already judged?

The book would have to be something quite exceptional to redeem the character of either Harry or Megan, both of whom have shown us their true nature in so many ways.

The book is far from exceptional and does not change my opinion of them - if indeed that was the aim, rather than just being to do with mega bucks.

Monsoon - not seeing your kids for a month in the summer holidays IS a very longtime and is not at all normal for divorced mothers. The fact that they were at boarding school makes it worse - she could have had her holiday then!

Andrew dabbled with courting the media for his own ends too - his Interview with Emily Maitlis ended whatever chance he thought he might have at salvaging his reputation - he walked straight into the lion's den - I doubt even he is stupid enough to think he can recover his reputation.

And the round of interviews, is that just autobiography too?