‘Spare’ by Prince Harry

Given his face is set in a permanent grimace, I think a bit of misspelling would seem apt. "Dispare" He'll diss and his family will despair. I imagine they know what's coming down the line, as indeed most of us do, so much of it's out in the public domain. After this I think they are both going to have to change the record, it's just a constant round of "woe is us" Given what's happening around the world, too much self absorption will reach a point of diminishing returns on what they are selling.

If he has written the truth

A big ‘if’.

His (and hers of course) idea of the truth.

Joseanne

ParlorGames

Second child syndrome springs to mind.

Princess Anne didn't bleat on and on.
Many studies suggest a 2nd child can often be more successful and well adjusted than the first.

If Princess Anne had been a girl, she would have been in exactly the same position until Charles married and fathered William and Harry as Harry was until William was born - the heir to the heir. She had a double reason to whinge, for being pushed down a notch by her nephew, and for being "just" a girl to start with.

Anne was born in 1950, so was 32 when William was born and took her place as next in line. Harry was born in 1984, so was then 29. About the age when they were sidelined, but completely different reactions.

Princess Anne was down to 3rd in line after Andrew was born, then 4th after Edward. She wasn’t sidelined at 29 Elegran.

OK guys, I was just thinking about 2nd child syndrome in general and probably shouldn't have mentioned P Anne. John F Kennedy was second child. His elder brother never made it to The White House.

Harry endlessly advises people to have therapy but he's a poor advert for it himself. He's been quoted as saying he's had many years of therapy - it hasn't worked.

Many spares became King Henry V111, Charles 1 (didn't end well) George V, George V1 to name but a few.

Ladyleftfieldlover

Thing is, the tabloid press and others write what they like about the Royal family so why can’t Harry write his own book? People like Piers Morgan has been getting his knickers in a huge knot over this book, but he is happy to write reams of rubbish about Harry and Meghan. Look how many books have been written about Diana. When she did write her own version of events via Andrew Morton, it was if the sky had fallen in. So good for Harry. If he has written the truth and his family are upset, so be it.

Because it is others writing about his family. Betraying your own family is an enormous personal thing to do. How do you carry on a relationship afterwards?

Second child syndrome or dead mum syndrome?

And the term 'heir and spare' has been knocking around the royal family for a lot longer than Harry has.

Harry will definitely regret this petty outburst because Charles has threatened to remove their titles and I doubt if they would like to become commoners like us, plain Mr and Mrs.

I feel sad for William. When he is king, he would benefit from the support of his brother, especially when all the previous generation have gone or are too frail to be working royals any more. I fear there will be no coming back from the effects of this book.

But had she had a different disposition, she might have felt that but for being born second, not first, she would have been the golden heir, and if she had been a boy, her place in the list would have been above Andrew.

If you have the nature to be resentful, you can always find something to resent.

That was to Calendargirl

hard-won wisdom - he’s not wise, is he?

It’s easy to blame Meghan’s influence but he is the one who had the privileged up bringing and continued support of his father. He should be ashamed of himself.

There's a little bit of that sentence that jumps out at me. "But he is the one who had the privileged upbringing..."

He did - a privileged and completely and utterly abnormal upbringing. Look at the charade of his parents' marriage; the media's obsession with his mother; the prurient interest in her affairs, in Camilla, not to mention the (mostly tabloid) intrusion into his own life and relationships... the media darling when he was 'Hazza' - Jack-The-Lad, sowing his wild oats. Until he had the temerity to fall in love and want to marry a woman who didn't have the right credentials to fit the defined role of a royal wife, a woman who was never going to subjugate herself to the demands or protocols of royal life.

I'm not surprised he has "unresolved issues". It would take a huge intellect and a degree of self-awareness - which he doesn't have - for him to even begin to understand the nature of his problems which are IMO firmly rooted in the whole now outdated concept of monarchy. Where one family, with all the traits and foibles of ordinary human beings, are elevated to such heights that regardless of their fallibility, a nation collectively reveres them, bows and curtseys to them.

I believe that Harry is a product of his environment, little more than that. Unfortunately, I don't think he has the necessary insight to examine himself objectively. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't try.

But that doesn't mean he shouldn't try I agree Dickens just wish he'd do so in private; but then he wouldn't get paid would he.

I will not buy it - no doubt the media will let me know the selected highlights.

I think the title is quite good though.

Dickens

^It’s easy to blame Meghan’s influence but he is the one who had the privileged up bringing and continued support of his father. He should be ashamed of himself.^

There's a little bit of that sentence that jumps out at me. "But he is the one who had the privileged upbringing..."

He did - a privileged and completely and utterly abnormal upbringing. Look at the charade of his parents' marriage; the media's obsession with his mother; the prurient interest in her affairs, in Camilla, not to mention the (mostly tabloid) intrusion into his own life and relationships... the media darling when he was 'Hazza' - Jack-The-Lad, sowing his wild oats. Until he had the temerity to fall in love and want to marry a woman who didn't have the right credentials to fit the defined role of a royal wife, a woman who was never going to subjugate herself to the demands or protocols of royal life.

I'm not surprised he has "unresolved issues". It would take a huge intellect and a degree of self-awareness - which he doesn't have - for him to even begin to understand the nature of his problems which are IMO firmly rooted in the whole now outdated concept of monarchy. Where one family, with all the traits and foibles of ordinary human beings, are elevated to such heights that regardless of their fallibility, a nation collectively reveres them, bows and curtseys to them.

I believe that Harry is a product of his environment, little more than that. Unfortunately, I don't think he has the necessary insight to examine himself objectively. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't try.

Makes sense to me.

Yes Sparklefizz he should ask for his money back. ?

I agree with all of you who think it’s second child syndrome etc. But apart from bleating on about poor me I think this was about making money. Hope it doesn’t take off although lots of us will be curious to get an inside scoop. Not for me though.

You never know he may have things to say that will make folk take off their rose tinted specs about the RF .
The Spare is a particularly cruel nickname to give any child and I'm sure it has stuck with him.
I'm not a royalist ,no surprise ,but that nickname shows just how inhumane these people are .NO child should ever be second best or made to feel inferior .

Did the royal family call him the spare or was it his mother?

His mother was part of the royal family.

paddyann54

You never know he may have things to say that will make folk take off their rose tinted specs about the RF .
The Spare is a particularly cruel nickname to give any child and I'm sure it has stuck with him.
I'm not a royalist ,no surprise ,but that nickname shows just how inhumane these people are .NO child should ever be second best or made to feel inferior .

It's not just a royal saying.

Not quite the same is it? His mother referred to him as the spare and yet he never has a bad word to say about her. Quite the opposite.