Strangest bits in Spare…

[Motorcycleemptyness]

i haven’t quite finished it yet but I wanted to read a thread about some of the weirder bits of Spare, and I haven’t seen a thread where people were discussing those without the ‘H&M’ vs the rest of the RF debate. There are definitely some parts which have made me really question why they were included, and I was wondering if anyone else had any similar thoughts.

The inclusion of the imagery of the poppy fields, and how heroin funds the Taliban. Fair enough. We all know that. The rest of the book is one long ode to posh people taking drugs. Does Prince Harry think the cocaine he takes is gently knitted by fairies and delivered to him by unicorns? Do the drugs he takes not contribute to war and terrorism and misery across the rest of the world (and indeed misery and crime in the UK, where he is 5th in line to be monarch!) I found this quite a strange passage and I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts, or am I just over thinking it?

Elizabeth Arden cream. ‘Mummy’s lips’. ‘Todger’. Why? But really, why? Why was this included? Why did anyone think it or commit it to paper, and then publish it? Why did I read it? Why am I typing it here? ARGH.

What he actually thinks the relationship between the royal family and the press should actually be. Only reporting true things? Someone had a photo of him taking cocaine. Dressed as a nazi. Calling his colleague a ‘P*ki’. He wasn’t happy, but it was all true. Should journalists not be allowed to report true things? Or should they only be reporting things he wants them to report? Does Andrew get to choose that too? What about everyone else?

What the actual royal family should look like. This was mind bending. He seems to be perfectly happy with the idea of the monarchy, an institution which is predicated on the idea that they’re inherently superior to the rest of us, and that’s their birth right, but seems to massively struggle to apply that to himself and William. If a monarchy is the best system, why shouldn’t the heir be treated differently to the spare? (I don’t believe it is the best system and wish we could abolish them all but I don’t understand how one can believe one but not the other!).

Anyone else have any interesting thoughts?

I find this fascinating too. Similar sibling totally different colouring situation!

Does Harry explain in the book why he and Meghan lived in Frogmore Cottage rather than the apartment next door to PW and Kate at Kensington Palace?

I remember something around the time they got married about the Gloucester moving out to make room for them but didn't hear why they didn't move in.

Apparently everywhere else they considered was too grand.

Considering what they bought in the US, it doesn't quite ring true, but does tick lots of boxes to suggest that they were being frugal and just wanting somewhere small and tucked away.

Thanks. I read it differently - as I said, Harry being immature and taking a stab at his father; I genuinely didn't and still don't see it as reflecting negatively on Meghan (or Charles). We'll probably never know, and that's fine with me.

I'd be surprised if Meghan were very familiar with Coronation Street at that time, but I could be wrong! You'd have had to be specifically looking for it on Amazon/BritBox to watch it in the US, although she may have seen it on TV in Canada. Personally, I would not have thought to bring it up in the context of that reported conversation; I honestly didn't even know it was considered a soap opera until this thread. (Out of curiosity, I looked it up on Amazon US/Britbox - the blurb says it's "the UK's longest-running soap" but the genre is "Drama".)

Netflix only had the UK rights to Suits - at least while it was still running - and that was only from Season 7 on. No idea who if anyone would have had rights to broadcast in Botswana. But an international flight crew would frequently stay overnight and sometimes even a few days before flying onward or back, often in an isolated airport hotel with little to do BUT watch TV until you fall asleep. They would not be limited to what is broadcast within Botswana.

You are stunningly naive to believe that Meghan did not want exposure. Didn't say she didn't want exposure. That's not the same as not wanting a camera shoved in your face in false pretenses when you're trying to do your grocery shopping (or drive home from work or spend time alone with your partner or friends or family).

People can dislike particular individuals as much as they want, but journalists did prison time in the UK for illegal surveillance of the Royals, including the odious Harry from age 15. There are plenty of documented stories of photographers putting their quarry in physical danger and/or continuing to shoot rather than helping when someone was hurt or in distress. Harry and Meghan could be formally declared the worst people in the world, and the problem still doesn't go away. Of course Royals and celebs (and aspiring celebs) court the press to a great degree in certain contexts. I just don't believe they relinquish their right to privacy and safety and case by case consent by doing so.

@agedasiago sorry, you didn’t realise coronation street was a soap? Are you from Britain or Ireland? I would have thought it pretty unusual for an adult in either of those countries to know that even if they don’t watch the show.
I was using Coronation St as an example. If you cannot read between the lines and see how seriously Meghan believes her role in Suits should be taken then I don’t know what else to say.
‘But an international flight crew would frequently stay overnight and sometimes even a few days before flying onward or back, often in an isolated airport hotel with little to do BUT watch TV until you fall asleep. They would not be limited to what is broadcast within Botswana.’ All a bit of a reach here isn’t it. Much more likely they’d never heard of her and this never happened at all.
’There are plenty of documented stories of photographers putting their quarry in physical danger and/or continuing to shoot rather than helping when someone was hurt or in distress.’ Yes and that is terrible but none of those things happened to either harry or Meghan. Not really sure why you have included in reply to my post

In all the excerpts I've read, the writer seems to really favour short sentences. There are lots of full stops. It's annoying. To read.

I don't know anything about the ghostwriting process - will this be a style the writer generally uses, one he's chosen because he sees it as matching Harry's style, or something Harry will specifically have preferred?

I've not read the whole book though and am basing this on excerpts so could be wrong about the book as a whole.

I have no idea but I don't think all of the minor Royals have 24hr security when they are out only when they are on official engagements.

It is purely my guess that places like Kensington Palace are guarded like a posh prison basically. And it's probably cheaper and easier to have them all guarded together than for them to be dotted about living in different places.

No you’re quite right. He does. Do that quite frequently.

Think it’s meant to make it seem more immediate, dramatic, engaging and to simulate an off the cuff informal chat. Perhaps over a joint or two 🤷‍♀️

I have just finished it this evening. I am SHAKEN at the part where he deliberates about how he will pay for things after quitting his role in the royal family, and says spending the money left to him by Diana is a ‘last resort’. Who knew that spending our own money was a ‘last resort’? We would all have a lot more money to leave our children if we never had to buy anything, wouldn’t we?

There’s also a bit where he talks about the ‘essential fairness’ of the monarchy which is a statement that will live rent free in my head for a while.

So yeah, all in all, I actually quite enjoyed reading it! It was a not very taxing meander through recent British history, with a bizarrely unreliable narrator. Harry comes across as a complete clown with very little empathy or awareness for anyone else’s feelings at all. Feel really sorry for poor old ‘Willy’ (and by that I mean his brother, not PH’s penis) - feel like the majority of the book was an attempt to punish William for being born first. No wonder he pushed him in the dog bowl.

Anyway, abolish the monarchy!

I had three pregnancies in the space of 2 years - two miscarriages and a live birth.

🙌🏻 Spot on

@BellePeppa @Winterday1991 Yeah, you can picture the scene can't you, looking out from behind the net curtains, hanky box on the floor ready, along with a number of pre damped tissues that had been swished round a damp sink, or something.
So much for her being a strong, independent woman, one of a couple that run towards trouble, not away from it!
They must think our heads are filled with kapok and button up at the back!

@MonsoonMadness · Today 17:46

I was just astonished that she should tell Harry she's actively suicidal and can't be left alone, just before a big event that they are due to attend, knowing his own mental health is shot and his mother was killed when he was 12. Honestly., however bad you felt, you wouldn't do that. She had access to the best help available on her doorstep. I just don't buy the 'no one would help me' routine. She could have picked up the phone anytime and got seen the same day. She lived in the centre of london.

Marvellous how she managed to turn that around in an hour, (which I thought totally unbelievable, days/weeks maybe, an hour or two with no help, not a chance! ) get herself all dolled up and sit at the show looking like the cat that got the cream, with a grin that made the Cheshire Cat look like someone that had lost £20.
Not just that she says she was suicidal but told him how she'd do it? Throw herself down the stairs a la Diana, perchance?!

The whole thing except the mother's death, is an exercise in cognitive dissonance and gaslighting.

I like proving you wrong.

@purpledalmation 👏

Another poster once said he’s using ‘the script’ on his previous family relationships - I agree - he’s flakey

@ blossomtoes
those hugs look genuine to me

are we supposed to believe it’s all staged and all familial affection is totally faked cos irl they’re 🦎😂

I adore my mum and dad and I know they love me, we only ever kiss , we don't hug . My mum always grips the tops of my arms which could look like she's pushing me away but she's not.

Yes, agree with all that. It actually made me feel poor William has had a lot to put up with.

Interesting thread. Saves me buying the book.

What name did I call you?

He clearly wasn’t listening in Biology lessons. Or History lessons. Yea