Book ~ "Spare" (2023) Prince Harry

From Goodreads ~ It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow - and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling - and how their lives would play out from that point on.

For Harry, this is that story at last.

Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness - and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.

At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love.

Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother.

For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.

I like reading bios/autobios/memoirs and this has to be one of the most talked about ones in a while. This is Harry's story as seen and lived through his eyes. 

The book starts when Harry is young and his life as the "spare". The death of his mother was devastating and something he never recovered from. Realizing that school wasn't for him, he decided to go into the army and took a gap year to volunteer. It was during this year that he fell in love with Botswana. The army provided him with structure and discipline. Once his tours were done, he stumbled around trying to figure out what to do then. He wanted what his brother and friends had ... a wife and family. When he met Meghan, he knew she was the one and promised to always protect her.

I found this book interesting as it gives an insight into what it's like being part of the Royal Family, as per Harry. It was long in parts as there is a lot of detail. He speaks honestly about his missing his mother, going through therapy, partying and drug and alcohol use, and more. As a head's up, there is swearing.

The motto of the Royal Family is disregard what is written in the tabloids and and papers about you, whether it's true or not. Getting no support from his grandmother, father or brother, this was his way of telling the truth, as he sees it. I think it's going to be hard for him to reconcile with his father and brother after what he's written about them in this book.