For a long time now there have been rumours that Prince William has a very bad temper and perhaps some anger issues. It’s been reported that he blows up in rage, yelling at his father to the point where Camilla, allegedly, once told close friends and family that she was “horrified”.
According to The Guardian’s exclusive scoop about Prince Harry’s book, Spare, Harry reveals that back in 2019, he and William had an argument where William got so heated, he charged at Harry and attacked him, resulting in a visible injury. They’d been arguing because William was telling Harry that Meghan Markle was “difficult”, “rude”, and “abrasive” – which Harry objected to because it was basically William repeating the adjectives that the tabloids had been using to describe her. Their shouting match was getting out of control so Harry says he went to the kitchen for a timeout:
“Harry writes that he gave his brother a glass of water and said: “Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.”
“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Harry writes that William urged him to hit back, citing fights they had as children. Harry says he refused to do so. William left, Harry says, then returned “looking regretful, and apologised”.
When William left again, his brother writes, he “turned and called back: ‘You don’t need to tell Meg about this.’
“‘You mean that you attacked me?’
“‘I didn’t attack you, Harold.’”
This is just the first in what will be days and days of revelations from the book. You can imagine the coverage the British tabloids are giving it and the justifications in defence of William putting his hands on his brother. And that’s just from one passage of a whole ass book in which Harry, evidently, is not holding back.
No one really knew for sure, up until last night, just how detailed Harry’s memoir would be, and whether or not he would actually go there. Well…we have our answer now. He’s going there. And now every single recollection he includes in the book will be analysed and cross-examined and splashed across the front pages around the world, eclipsing whatever royal activities are planned over the next few weeks.
The Spare will not be in the shadows. The Spare has taken over the spotlight.
And that is apparently one of the main themes of the book – Harry in his own words pushing back against the role he was expected to play as the second-born and the behavioural expectations imposed on him by the crown, to the point where his happiness and well-being was sacrificed in service of an institution that he claims has repeatedly betrayed him.
But in the press release for Spare that the publisher put out a few months ago, the book was described as “a remarkably moving personal journey from trauma to healing, one that speaks to the power of love and will inspire and encourage millions of people around the world”. So, presumably, Spare isn’t just about settling scores; it’s about recovering from loss and the trauma of his experiences in a family that reminded him at every turn that he was less important.
Right now though? That’s not the takeaway. That’s not what people are fixating on. The focus is on the combat. Harry’s path to healing is not what’s making headlines. No doubt, the people who actually read the book from cover to cover will get a more dispassionate picture of his purpose in writing it, but what’s selling it at the moment is scandal. And that is, currently at least, how it’s being defined.
Many years from now, once the heat and intensity of this mess subsides and the culture assesses Spare as a complete work and, given his identity, a historical document about a historical family from one of its own members, the conversations about Harry’s recollections might be more objective. In our current climate, healing is not the predominant message. That’s not necessarily his fault, but it is the way the media works in these times. And he would know about that better than anyone else.
