Revelations from Harry’s book included the claim that heir to the throne Prince William pushed him to the ground in consecutive 2019 – Copyright AFP MANDEL NGAN
Helen Row
Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ on Friday was panned by the British media and commentators who called it ‘vindictive’ and ‘calculated’ as Buckingham Palace remained silent on the widely leaked content.
In the days leading up to Tuesday’s official release, revelations from the book dominated headlines and airplay after the Spanish-language version of the memoir went on sale in Spain by mistake.
Revelations such as how heir to the throne Prince William allegedly shoved Harry to the ground in a 2019 scandal, how he lost his virginity, took drugs and killed 25 Taliban in Afghanistan, have drawn both condemnation and ridicule.
Author A. N. Wilson called the haunted tome — the largest royal book since Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, collaborated with Andrew Morton on Diana: Her True Story in 1992 — “calculated and despicable” and a work of ” malicious malice.”
– “Idiotic” –
“Harry has no doubt been under enormous pressure in making the idiotic decision to ‘go public’ with his break with the royal family… to spit out as much venom as possible,” he wrote in the Daily Mail.
“But it put him in a terrifying light. And whatever he’s up to, it makes us sympathize not with him, but with the royal family.”
The book represents the latest hostile outburst from Harry and his American wife Meghan after they left royal duties and moved to California in 2020.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they are officially known, have since cashed in on their royal connections, landing several lucrative book and programming contracts.
The Spanish-language version of the book was hastily pulled from the shelves after Thursday’s slip, but not before it was bought by the media, violating the publisher’s strict worldwide embargo.
The Sun tabloid stated that while people sympathized with 38-year-old Harry due to the trauma of losing his mother as a child and having to grieve in front of the public, “none of them can justify the destructive, vengeful path he chose by leaving his family at risk.” million dollar bus.
In an editorial, he pointed out the “countless inconsistencies” in his claims and urged him to listen to friends who urged him to “stop for his own good”.
Daily Mail columnist Ian Moir called the book “a sour cherry on a rancid pie” among other miscellaneous programming and interviews with Harry and Meghan in which they targeted his family.
Gaby Hinsliff of The Guardian stated that the book went beyond matters of “uncomfortable public interest” and became a public “washing up dirty laundry”.
The leftist newspaper, which has questioned the role of the monarchy in modern Britain, was the first to publish this week a leaked extract from a book in which Harry described his physical altercation with William.
“The details of the alleged brawl between the brothers in the palace cottage are both ridiculously trivial and heartbreakingly sad,” she wrote.
– ‘Red Mist’ –
British network ITV and US broadcaster CBS have received exclusive interviews with Harry, which will air on Sunday ahead of publication on Tuesday.
“I saw this red mist in him,” Harry said in a clip of his chat with ITV, talking about a fight with William. “He wanted me to hit him back, but I didn’t”
“I want reconciliation, but first there must be accountability,” he adds.
When the #ShutUpHarry hashtag went viral on Twitter, The Sun quoted sources close to his father, King Charles III, as saying he was upset by the book.
But there was no official palace commentary.
The only previous royal reaction to Harry and Meghan’s complaints was after they accused an unnamed royal of racism in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
William told a reporter that the family was “not a racist family at all”, while his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II famously said that “memories may vary”.