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?

Doesn't it go further. It's the pregnancy test on the "nightstand" (so Americanised) next to the box containing a lock of Diana's hair.

Yes about the organ donation thing...think he had read too much jodi picoult!

The idea of another child as a resource for spare organs is not unheard of. Pretty sure I've seen it mentioned on MN as the only valid reason for a 2nd wife to have children - just in case they're needed for their half sibling😱

You only have to look at China, and the organ harvesting from young Falun Gong practitioners - the powerful are ruthless.

He would have been able to work in a non frontline role if there were security fears and working with injured soldiers would have been ideal. He showed real compassion for their plight and his involvement may have speeded things up for them, never underestimate the power of a Royal name! It would have allowed him an ideal half in, half out life with the Royal family, having a relatively private life but putting in appearances with the RF when needed.

My parents never hugged me or told me they loved me, I don’t remember them ever reading me a bedtime story but I did feel loved and cared for and looked after. It can take a few generations to break the non hugging cycle and I knew I wanted to hug my children, just as Harry and William are now huggers to their children. I’m not resentful or bitter or snidey about it though unlike Harry.

I think Harry has made it clear - the last thing he wants is a private life. He wants to be in charge of changing the RF and recreating it in his vision.

It does !! How funny.

@SpaceshiptoMars I think Harry has just taken the role of the Spare to its logical conclusion, but it is a bit ridiculous. I assume he has, in a brittle thin skinned way taken the longstanding trope that a royal wife has done her duty when she has produced two male children (the heir and the spare) and developed a sense of victimhood over it.

He talks about going to work and coming home to eat takeaway over his sink at Nott Cot. I was puzzled about what he meant by work. Did he have a desk job in the Army for a while?

Hmmmm

And drug tests probably.

The constant hugging that families do nowadays and the casual Love you is a relatively new thing, certainly the last 30/40 years. I would hug my children when they were upset etc but I don't think I ever said Love you, it was a given.

If only she’d had the girl she had actually hoped she’d have. I think things would be very different now, and for the better.

I'vr been on MN a while and have never seen that. Not saying I don't believe you just that it's not a common viewpoint!

I certainly don't think the main reason a "spare" is conceived in the royal family is on the off chance the heir might need a new kidney! Plus any donation would have to be consensual anyway and there are only a small number of organs that a live donor can give, so unless Harry really thinks the family would off him to give William his heart it's all a bit unrealistic!

It really is not a thing in the UK. Apart from anything else, it would require several doctors to take leave of their senses and be prepared to abandon their medical careers. I suspect it's yet another idea belatedly planted in Hazza's head by a therapist.

Even this hugging your friends I find weird and a bit too gushy for my own personal likening. I do it though as it’s now expected.

Yes about the organ donation thing...think he had read too much jodi picoult!

Does he believe he was chosen as an embryo to be a match? Or does he just believe that all brothers would be donor matches?

And, indeed, why send the bodyguards out when they could have got food delivered by picking up a phone?

The reality is that Harry was probably largely out of it on drugs and is making up a lot of what happened at the hospital.

@BitOutOfPractice I concurr with everything you just said.

Harry looks nothing like Diana. He has a resemblance to the Spencers. But it isn't her. More like Sarah. He has that face shape of his grandfather Spencer and otherwise resembles Charles. William looks like Diana and hisnuncles Charles but also exactly like Edward. Kids often resemble both sides. He isn't like Diana though. Only one on the future who will look like her is probably Charlotte because she looks like William. Her mothers colouring though.

@Patineur indeed. Obviously part of his role is to ensure there is a successor should his brother die - but that is a centuries old tradition where their heir to the throne would feasibly die young in battle or from illness - not to be a literal organ donor to keep the heir alive. But that is the case for all Royals in the immediate line of succession.

He really does have some Mummy issues doesn’t he?
You can understand why after losing her like that at such a young age but they are pretty extreme

Thank you OhCrumbsWhereNow. What was the 'horsey-smelling' thing that he was referring to at the end of the page?

Believe me, every facility is available at the Portland!

Agree. And he has his dads eyes and nose.

Like others, I would be seriously peed off if my husband (and birthing partner) got high on the drug meant to ease my pain, and drained the canister. Sounds like a self centered idiot.