Prince Harry made himself the ‘centre of attention’ by ‘dissing his family’, according to royal author

Five days before its official release date, the internet blew up as Prince Harry‘s highly anticipated memoir was leaked online.

People began posting videos on TikTok as they read aloud the vivid details of Harry losing his virginity in a field behind a pub and his anecdote about frostbite on his ‘todger’ after a trip to the North Pole.

Excerpts – including some which were doctored – were shared on Twitter after some Spanish booksellers broke the embargo and put the book out early on January 5, 2023, leading some newspapers to get their hands on the book early. 

It was reported that publishers spent millions to prevent the content of the book from getting leaked, but this proved to be futile. 

Coming off the back of Harry and Meghan’s no-holds-barred interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the book was billed as a fresh attack on the Royal Family.

To say that Spare, which was officially published on January 10, 2023, ruffled a few royal feathers would be a crude understatement.

Royal author Ingrid Seward claimed that Harry’s emotional problems had been caused by him allowing the ‘Spare’ label to ‘dominate his life – to the extent that he has now made a career out of it’. 

Seward wrote in her book, My Mother and I: ‘Harry had a good relationship with his father until he moved to America, “unlocked his inner self”, and started using his position as the spare to make noise.’

Seward has spent 40 years covering The Firm and its highs and lows – from the War of the Waleses and Toegate to Megxit and beyond.

Like many journalists of her generation, she would often find herself invited to Kensington Palace for cosy chats with Princess Diana or to the ski slopes of Switzerland with Charles, William and Harry.

Having witnessed the boys grow into men, she is one of the most qualified people to comment on why Harry couldn’t be happy in his position within the Royal Family.

Harry would play the fool and get away with childish antics, such as standing behind visitors and pulling funny faces behind their backs to make William laugh when he had to meet them.

At the age of nine, Harry reportedly turned to his brother and declared: ‘You’re going to be King; it doesn’t matter what I do.’

It seems that this attitude is one Harry has carried from childhood into his adult years.

In his memoir, Harry laid bare shocking accusations, including that his brother physically attacked him and that Charles did not hug Harry when his mother Diana died.

Seward wrote: ‘His row with his brother was one thing – this is not unusual with siblings, when one has all the responsibility and the other is free to have more fun.

‘But the anger aimed at the monarchy, the British people, his father and stepmother was totally unnecessary.’

On its first day of publication, Spare sold approximately 1.4million copies in the US, Canada and the UK, becoming the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time. 

The book’s title came from Harry’s feeling of being ‘a spare part’ compared to William being heir.

In Spanish the book was titled En La Sombra (In The Shadow), which aptly summarises Harry’s ill-feeling towards his brother. 

In the Channel 5 documentary, Meghan: Duchess for Sale?, which aired earlier this month, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘Spare was again, together with the interviews, something that was a red rag to King Charles. 

‘Harry trashed his family in the book and they haven’t forgotten and they may never trust him again afterwards.’

Seward wrote: ‘Much of Harry’s ire has been directed at his elder brother William, the heir, and their relationship has always been fraught with rivalry – so much so that Harry developed a complex about being the second best.

‘He always felt the need to compete in everything, especially with his brother. 

‘His relationship with the Queen was very much characterised by Harry being the joker, and when he had something serious to say to her, he had very little idea how to go about it.’

The brothers ended up at loggerheads when the Queen reluctantly accepted that Harry could keep his beard on his wedding day.

The royal author wrote: ‘When William discovered this he was furious: annoyed that Harry had gone to the Queen, annoyed that she had given her clearance and annoyed at what he saw as Harry’s one-upmanship.’

This stemmed from the fact that William had not been allowed to keep his beard at his own wedding.

‘Harry explains in Spare that William always felt the Queen indulged Harry in his misbehaviour, while he was expected to maintain high standards.

‘This argument became so heated that at one point William actually ordered Harry to shave, “as the Heir speaking to the Spare”,’ wrote Seward.

But it was the late Queen who found herself in an ‘impossible position’ when it came to dealing with Harry’s antics.

Seward wrote: ‘However much she loved Harry – and she did – she couldn’t condone the way he was speaking about the institution of the monarchy that she had spent 70 years preserving.

‘He chooses to be the victim and wreak vengeance on the slights he thought he had suffered; on his family, on the Press and through the courts.’

Jack Royston, royal correspondent for Newsweek, noted in Channel 5’s documentary, Meghan: Duchess for Sale?, that in the aftermath of the publication of Spare the Sussexes suffered a massive crash in the opinion polls.

It seems that Harry’s determination to tell his version of ‘the truth’ has not only placed a wedge between the Sussexes and the Royal Family, but also damaged the public perceptions of the couple.

They were chastised by both the British and American press, with the US animated sitcom South Park even making a parody episode called The Worldwide Privacy Tour. The couple were also called ‘grifters’ by a Spotify executive. 

In the YouGov opinion polls, both Meghan and Harry’s popularity has been on a steady decline. 

Most recently Harry’s high-profile court case, which saw the Government’s decision to downgrade his security during his visits the UK upheld, has prompted rumours of a sequel to Spare.

A Buckingham Palace insider told The Sun: ‘There’s a lot of worry that Harry could tell all in a book deal or even follow Meghan’s lead and make a podcast.

‘He’s hinted he has discovered secrets during the hearings, particularly regarding the treatment of him and Meghan, that would shock us all.

‘It is a veiled threat, essentially that he will tell all if it doesn’t go the way he wants it to.’

While Spare 2 could do well for Harry financially, many royal observers wonder if this would eliminate any chance of a reunion between Harry, William and Charles.