Status: 06.01.2023 16:03
Some editions of the Prince Harry memoirs were already on the market before publication – and provide plenty to talk about. There are some details that shock the British.
Harry’s book dominates the reporting, only the Financial Times still manages without the prince on the front page. “Oh Spare us” is the headline of the “Daily Mail”, based on the English book title: “Spare us”, and the “i” speaks of the worst crisis in the monarchy for 30 years. Now it’s down to business, about sex, violence and betrayal.
Harry: Family treats us like villains
In an ITV interview, which will not air in its entirety until tomorrow, in which Harry is asked about the book, he says the royal family has shown no willingness at all to reconcile. They would find it better to continue to regard him and his wife as villains.
And in an interview with the US broadcaster CBS, Harry says: Whenever he wanted to clarify something privately, things were pierced and the story was specifically given to the press.
Harry speaks of treason, but in the meantime he has to accept this accusation himself. The BBC royal house expert Nick Witchell emphasizes that Harry is now the one who is dragging private things to the public with his memoirs: “In all fairness you have to question his judgement. That he invades his own privacy is his business, but he also violates the privacy of his family members and that leads to a breach of trust.”
Some spicy details
Many details are likely to infuriate the royal family: for example, the statement that Charles was cold and did not manage to hug Harry when the family was informed of Diana’s death; the depiction of William getting violent in an argument over Meghan and Harry falling to the ground; the claim that William and Kate encouraged him – Harry – to go to a costume party in Nazi uniform; and that he and William ordered Charles not to marry Camilla because she might turn out to be an evil stepmother.
“Human Hand Grenade”
Harry’s book has what it takes to disenchant the monarchy. Reconciliation in the royal family is now even further away, says The Palace Papers author Tina Brown. She says Harry evolved into a human hand grenade just as his father began his reign.
Other details in the book relate more closely to Harry himself: that he tried cocaine when he was 17 and used it more frequently thereafter, and that he was treated like a stud stallion by a much older woman the first time he had sex.
Statement on the Afghanistan mission “unwise”
Not only the family and intimate revelations provide topics of conversation in Great Britain, but also Harry’s statement that he killed 25 Taliban as a soldier in the Afghanistan mission.
Colonel Richard Kemp, who was once the British commander in Afghanistan, said Harry’s admission was unwise: “He’s already under threat, and bringing awareness to the operation in this way undermines his own security.”
Also, Kemp criticizes Harry for his language. Harry speaks of the Taliban as pawns, dehumanizing the victims. That does not correspond to the understanding of the British Army.
Harry’s full story isn’t out yet. The two big TV interviews with him are yet to come, and his book will only be available to buy – at least officially – from Tuesday.