With the release of his new memoir, Prince Harry may be losing his accumulated goodwill, but Spare demonstrates that this is the least of his concerns.
The new memoir by Prince Harry does not want to be an articulate, nuanced point about his fame in the age of a monarchy that may have outlived its usefulness. Instead, Prince Harry wants to repeatedly tell his story — in all its perplexing, rage-filled, and occasionally entirely TMI glory.
Unlike the Sussex’s exclusive Oprah special or Netflix’s recent six-episode limited documentary series, Spare cannot be accused of pulling any punches, as the memoir contains so many shocking revelations that it has become a viral meme on social media.
In Spare, Prince Harry is candid about a Nazi uniform he was encouraged to wear by his brother William, details about doing shrooms at Courtney Cox’s house and believing the trashcan was speaking to him and goes into detail about using his mother’s favorite moisturizer, on his frostbitten penis during William and Kate’s wedding.
Even the writing style goes out of its way to reinvent itself, ranging from an easygoing imitation of Harry’s natural, jock-like inflection to almost prosaic rapture over trivial as specific English hills to as corny as the first time he laid eyes on his eventual wife.
“I’d traveled the world from top to bottom. I’d hopped around the world. I’d met hundreds of thousands of people, a ludicrously large cross-section of the world’s seven billion inhabitants.
I’d been watching a conveyor belt of faces pass by for thirty-two years, and only a few had ever made me look twice.
Prince Harry and Meghan
This woman stopped the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt was smashed to bits by this woman. I’d never seen anyone so lovely.” At this point, Prince Harry is probably thinking about Meghan wearing a Snapchat dog filter with its tongue out.
However, the book’s contradictory nature does not result from sharing too much information, choosing the wrong publisher, or even hiring the wrong ghostwriter.
Rather, the tell-all memoir reveals its contradiction on purpose, all to highlight the 38 years its narrator spent in that mindset.
Through Spare’s 400 pages (which you can feel each one pass), Prince Harry presents himself as a swirl of duties and intense emotions that never got to be a fully-articulated person in the first place. The roles thrust upon him divide the book.
In describing his time in the British Army, Prince Harry appears so unattached to his personhood that he “thanks” the Army for destroying it during training.
And the conflict is still present in his memories. He jokes about not caring about literature, but quotes from Faulkner and “Invictus” appear throughout the book.
Prince Harry and Meghan Mocked
He is detailed and descriptive about the pain his father (Pa) and brother (Willy) cause him, but he saves the most venom for the British press, which haunts his story at every turn. Prince Harry despises being called names but seems to enjoy mocking specific journalists and palace staff members with rude British traits or animal names that play on their quirks.
Even when Harry is desperate to save his wife from the same fate as his mother, he cannot hide his genuine admiration and love for the monarchy that destroyed him.
Yes, the book intends to present a central narrative about transitioning from a life of death to freedom. But even Prince Harry still needs to arrive. Instead, it appears that the Prince has moved on to another role. Ex-Royal Father H. This one has more advantages.
Spare can feel like a punishment at times. In between over-the-top moments, Prince Harry delivers an internal monologue about his mother’s death. (Until 18, he believes his mother is not dead but is involved in an elaborate plot to avoid the press.)
Even in the book’s introduction, Prince Harry shares that, while the secrets are addressed to the world, they are a true outpouring for William and now-king Charles — as soon as they’re ready to get over themselves and listen.
“They weren’t in the right frame of mind to listen,” he writes in the introduction to the book. “Not right now, anyway. No, not today. So, what about Pa? Willy? Here you have it.”
Spare’s release has sparked a major debate (and several extremely funny memes) about whether or not Prince Harry has lost his accumulated goodwill.
The world praised his marriage and defended him even more after he and Meghan revealed to Oprah how difficult (and racist) life was in the royal family.
This is the time to take your Netflix deal, make a couple of elephant documentaries, and retire in Montecito as the multi-millionaire you are — not to release a Freudian nightmare of a memoir.
Source: Rolling Stone, VOR News
