Callistemon21
^Necessary evil he would say^
Necessary to fight evil.
Thank you!
Last letters become first - March 26
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News & politics
King Charles shocking and disloyal book exposing royal secrets and attacking his family
(278 Posts)AKA, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
It’s a story that, for 38 years, people have not been able to get enough of. But the release of SPARE, despite its promise of “raw, unflinching honesty,” has also been met by huge criticism from the same people rushing to click on or write stories about him.
The dramatic pearl clutching would have you believe that this is, to borrow a cliche from the royal reporting dictionary, an unprecedented moment for the House of Windsor. One of the Royal Family’s very own breaking their (questionable) “never complain, never explain” mantra to share private stories that supposedly should have been taken to the grave.
But short-term memory loss will do that to you, because Harry is far from the first senior royal to open up like this. In fact, he only needed to look at the actions of his own father (and mother) for a set example.
Many forget that our current Head of State did exactly the same.
As a man who felt so misunderstood during the breakdown of his marriage and his journey to the throne, Charles turned to BBC journalist Jonathan Dimbleby in 1994 to write a once-in-a-lifetime biography on his life so he could be better understood. Sound familiar?
Just like Harry’s ghostwriter J.R Moehringer, the then Prince of Wales spent countless hours sitting down for interviews with Dimbleby, as well as providing access to his friends and aides, and opening up his private archives of 10,000 private letters, journals and diaries.
The result was a tome that offered a deeply intimate look at Charles like never before. The story of an heir's emotionally repressed childhood, his “detached” and often absent mother who was too “preoccupied” with her career to show warmth, and a capricious, judgmental father who just wanted his son to grow up to be a thicker-skinned, aggressive leader.
Writing about both books, a New York Times critic said at the time that each biography painted pictures of “hapless victims — victims, for all their wealth and glamour, of emotionally deprived childhoods, a voracious press, unfortunate circumstances and duplicitous friends”.
For Charles, the negative response from the British press and public was intense. Accused of ferociously attacking his family and disgracing the monarchy, newspaper polls and opinion pieces declared him unfit to be king and some journalists even suggested he should be stripped of his titles. (Sounds familiar again?).
But there have been no regrets about sharing his story, sources have told me in more recent years. If he didn’t do it then, he would have had to forever deal with the fact that only tabloids, newspapers and unauthorised biographers told his story in their words.
uk.news.yahoo.com/harry-book-stop-pretending-shock-following-charles-footsteps-omid-scobie-115905887.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAD6vgibNPVCxJLtCVixLM2a2XhHQvkS0V_gy4VZol9d-s4ELdm6YLBNHUI4VWh_QUepyBufgLYtl6ikcJiyw7LglwbBLqhJWbAqktjoEdprq5PMx87fqJZor3RnEHP1slXIbCgWe6qXaMXCcaJ68gTpZUhcn4r4CI6KxKWf2ZGgC
(sorry, couldn't shorten url for some reason)
The whole bit about Harry killing 25 people when in the army is for me the most shocking part of the extracts that have been leaked.
Maybe the only way not to go completely out of your mind is to think of them as chess pieces, as he appears to have done. What a blunting of normal human emotion we fund as taxpayers - this is being done on our behalf.
To be honest, I’ve reached the point of being disgusted with Harry. It’s all too much private information being sold to the world. Every time I open my iPad there’s more of all this stuff. It must be worse in Britain, it’ll be all over the television and radio. Enough! It’s enough!
Good post Ladyleftfield as others have said.
Sorry, it was LadyHonoriaDedlock who wrote the good post, as others have said. Apologies.
I didn't read Charles book and I won't read Harrys.
I detest the phrase, ‘pearl clutching’. I think it is the rudest and most ageist thing I have heard in years. Not to mention quite racist against the British.
Violet You didn’t read past my first sentence as you knew the rest was not relevant. You would make a good proof reader.. You say H can say what he likes, he is and he will be answerable, unwise to think otherwise. Charles book didn’t damage anyone and everyone, he didn’t bin the whole of his family or his wife’s. Wasn’t that what this list was about?However he wasn’t mentally ill like Harry. It’s tragic it’s come to this someone once so loved, publicly now humiliating himself going through this type of breakdown. I feel sorry for the children living in this hate filled fully charged atmosphere, their safety needs looking at.
Post not list, typo
Allsorts
Violet You didn’t read past my first sentence as you knew the rest was not relevant. You would make a good proof reader.. You say H can say what he likes, he is and he will be answerable, unwise to think otherwise. Charles book didn’t damage anyone and everyone, he didn’t bin the whole of his family or his wife’s. Wasn’t that what this list was about?However he wasn’t mentally ill like Harry. It’s tragic it’s come to this someone once so loved, publicly now humiliating himself going through this type of breakdown. I feel sorry for the children living in this hate filled fully charged atmosphere, their safety needs looking at.
Which children are you talking aboutto
Allsorts
Violet You didn’t read past my first sentence as you knew the rest was not relevant. You would make a good proof reader.. You say H can say what he likes, he is and he will be answerable, unwise to think otherwise. Charles book didn’t damage anyone and everyone, he didn’t bin the whole of his family or his wife’s. Wasn’t that what this list was about?However he wasn’t mentally ill like Harry. It’s tragic it’s come to this someone once so loved, publicly now humiliating himself going through this type of breakdown. I feel sorry for the children living in this hate filled fully charged atmosphere, their safety needs looking at.
Charles admitted that he cheated on Diana during his 1994 interview. Isn't that trashing his family?
Charles admitted that he cheated on Diana during his 1994 interview. Isn’t that trashing his family?
No.
He’s acknowledging something that he himself has done.
He isn’t bad mouthing others with every word he speaks.
Zoejory I haven’t read the book or any extracts but from what I listened to on radio the press have run away with sensationalising the bit about the chess pieces and taken it out of context (No not the press 🙃) I believe he said that they were taught by the army to imagine they were chess pieces that they had to knock of the board NOT that he looked upon them as such
Maybe someone who has read it if anyone has ? can check if
I m right in this
Good point BlueBelle. De-humanising the enemy is part of war. It’s also something regimes like the Taliban are skilled at. Look at their treatment of women and girls now they’re left to rule as they want to. I’m
Calendargirl
^Charles admitted that he cheated on Diana during his 1994 interview. Isn’t that trashing his family?^
No.
He’s acknowledging something that he himself has done.
He isn’t bad mouthing others with every word he speaks.
He also mentioned that his parents were cold and distant.
My parents split up because of an affair. It with another parent whose child went to the same school as my brother. He was bullied over it. That was in a small village and Charles is on the world stage so i can only imagine the repercussions for the boys. William is the future king so he probably got more protection
Have you read the book? How do you that every word is trashing others? I watched the Netflix programme and they didnt spend the whole time trashing other people.
They did trash the press though and I think that was really brave of them. The press in this country are abysmal and it's not surprising that the Mail is apparently writing pages and pages of stuff about them. I suggest you read the book by Milly Dowler's sister to get some perspective. If you're writing your autobiography it's going to have some negative stuff in it so if you've had a dysfunctional childhood then unfortunately if you want honesty then you will read about it. Or should only who have only had really happy experiences be able to tell their life story.
Calendargirl
^Charles admitted that he cheated on Diana during his 1994 interview. Isn’t that trashing his family?^
No.
He’s acknowledging something that he himself has done.
He isn’t bad mouthing others with every word he speaks.
And he wasn't blaming Diana, he obviously felt guilt.
Charles has very carefully (has a lot of power obviously) suppressed the TV interview he did. The only bits of it in the public domain are short clips. One report I read said that he had the original himself, locked in a safe in his possession.
It's interesting that people who have had bad experiences as a child may tend to reinforce their views with reading about the negative experiences of others.
Perhaps it helps to feel they are not alone.
That's true, Callistemon21.
Callistemon21
It's interesting that people who have had bad experiences as a child may tend to reinforce their views with reading about the negative experiences of others.
Perhaps it helps to feel they are not alone.
Perhaps those who have had that experience can empathise with others who have had the same experience as they know the devastation it causes and the repercussions on the children involved. It is much harder to understand if you haven't had that experience. If you haven't had that experience count yourself very lucky. And as someone who has had some of the experiences that Harry with unfaithful parents, I would rather I was alone in that.
Allsorts
Violet You didn’t read past my first sentence as you knew the rest was not relevant. You would make a good proof reader.. You say H can say what he likes, he is and he will be answerable, unwise to think otherwise. Charles book didn’t damage anyone and everyone, he didn’t bin the whole of his family or his wife’s. Wasn’t that what this list was about?However he wasn’t mentally ill like Harry. It’s tragic it’s come to this someone once so loved, publicly now humiliating himself going through this type of breakdown. I feel sorry for the children living in this hate filled fully charged atmosphere, their safety needs looking at.
I didn't read past the first sentence which was about me being American
I'm not American and keep telling you that and even if I was American that's not relevant to discussion anyway and suggests I have no place in it.
Also, I've told my children stories about my mother's behaviour. Not the really bad things because I don't think they should carry my burdens. I have however told them some of the issues between us and how to protect themselves because my mother constantly stalks us all online with multiple profiles
My home is in no way full of any kind of hate.
As WellsRose said, should only those with happy childhoods and good family relationships be allowed to write autobiographies?
Callistemon21
It's interesting that people who have had bad experiences as a child may tend to reinforce their views with reading about the negative experiences of others.
Perhaps it helps to feel they are not alone.
I don't if you meant this deliberately bit that post sounds very sneery to me.
Well, I'm certainly seeing our local pub (The Rattlebone) in a new light!! We knew Prince Harry had once frequently frequented it as he was memorably thrown out on one occasion. But the High Jinx??!! None of us knew about that! The lady involved, hopefully isn't still in the area as her privacy means nothing to our Harry!
Not at all meant to be sneery.
Perhaps those who have had that experience can empathise with others
It is interesting and not having personal experience doesn't mean someone lacks empathy, especially knowing the life stories of so many who have had poor experiences but managed, with help, good outcomes and a change of outlook for the sake of themselves and any children they may have.
However, do we really all need to know about Harry's life experiences? Would he have a better outcome seeking professional help and looking ahead to a happier life with his wife and family?
Once told, all this cannot be untold.
I very much doubt that Harry's laughing. His book doesn't appear to have had an overall positive response and what seems to have caused the biggest outrage is him saying how many he killed in Afghanistan.
That does appear to be the main focus rather than what he's had to say about his family in particular Charles and William, which may be a degree of relief to them.
I think H would have had a better outcome Callistemon but sadly it may not happen now
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