The bio doesn’t officially appear until Tuesday, but before the weekend, the whole world could read along with the revelations Reserve, Prince Harry’s book. The tension between him and his family seems greater than ever due to the intimate view of him behind the royal scenes.
“I’ve worn many hats over the past few years, both literally and figuratively,” says Prince Harry when announcing his memoir in July 2021. “I hope that by telling my story – the ups and downs, the lessons I’ve learned – I can prove to be more humane than one might expect”.
“His story is – as expected – very sad,” writes a reporter from SkyNews. “The loneliness, the trauma he suffered during his time in Afghanistan and his mother’s death. But he also likes to brag and share personal details that are none of our business. It’s hard to stand by him because of that.”
Prince Harry’s book had already been on sale briefly in some Spanish bookstores. For example, it has SkyNews read it and review it. The gooei details of the biography are already circulating on the Internet.
In the Reserve, which he already completed before his grandmother Elizabeth’s death, Harry seems to miss nothing. Details about losing your virginity or throwing a party Friendsactress Courteney Cox where he got drunk on mushrooms: Despite his status as the son of the British king, Harry is no more reserved than the average celebrity who writes his life story.
“He grabbed me by the collar”
The title of the book is Replacement, Dutch for ‘reserve’. This refers to a saying that the first son is an heir and the second a “reserve”. The feeling of being the reserve runs through the autobiography, he writes The Guardian. This is the first medium that the book was able to see.
For example, her father, the current King Charles, is said to have told Diana, “Great! Now you have given me an heir and a reserve – my job is done.”
The first highlight of the book came out on Thursday. In it, Harry writes about an argument with his brother William, in which Harry says he was physically attacked.
The argument is said to have started because William called his sister-in-law Meghan Markle “a nuisance” and “rude,” among other things. Harry accused his brother of parroting the media story, after which the argument escalated. Harry wrote that his brother scolded him, grabbed him by the collar and broke his chain. William then slammed him to the ground. It is not clear whether William would have hit his brother or simply pushed him.
Harry also claims that William and his wife Catherine (Kate) encouraged the then 20-year-old prince to don a Nazi costume to a private themed party. “They were crying with laughter.” Images of the costume later leaked and Harry was inundated with criticism.
The feud between their wives Kate and Meghan is also not mentioned. The argument allegedly arose after a comment by the former actress, who, according to the prince, jokingly claimed that Kate has a ‘child’s brain’. This term is sometimes used when women who are pregnant or have recently given birth are a little forgetful. According to Harry, the comment went wrong with his sister-in-law. The women have been feuding ever since.
Too intimate, too candid?
The prince writes about his time as a soldier in Afghanistan where he killed 25 people. And of his late mother Diana, with whom he contacted through a medium. He talks about his experiences with drugs and trying cocaine. “I was a seventeen-year-old boy who was willing to try almost anything to change the predetermined path.”
The fact that Harry is so outspoken is uncomfortable, writes the reviewer of SkyNews. “I feel uncomfortable reading so many intimate details of a person who has had and still has so many problems. Who can help?”
Either way, the loose lip won’t help reconciliation with his brother and father, although there are now signs that Charles is reasonably spared in Harry’s story. “I want my brother and father back,” the prince says in one of the television interviews promoting his book.
The British media don’t see it happening. “It’s all over now,” he says The Daily Mirror on the relationship between siblings. “The worst crisis of the royal family in thirty years,” says the paper I.
So much information has already leaked that the question is how much new information the various TV interviews and the book will bring. Whether or not the British royal family will respond to all allegations remains to be seen, but that chance seems small. The ball is in their court, Harry thinks. “There is still a lot to discuss and I hope they find the time to sit down with me and talk about it. I still believe in the monarchy.”
Reserve will be in stores from Tuesday 10 January. The interview Prince Harry gave to Britain’s iTV can also be seen on Videoland on Monday.
2:31
