Prince Harry revealed in his memoir ‘Spare’ he requested a “secret meeting” with his father, King Charles, and brother, Prince William, to talk about “the state of things” during his visit to the UK for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
The Duke of Sussex wrote that when he returned to London for his grandfather’s funeral, he saw it as an opportunity to meet his father and brother for a chat. It was Harry’s first trip to England since he and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals and moved to the US, where they now reside with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
It was also the first time Harry met his family since he and the Duchess of Sussex gave a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey, during which they shared details of their struggles within the Royal Family and opened up on the reasons that led them to step away and move to another country. In his book, which was published in January 2023, Harry admitted he felt anxious while waiting for William and Charles to arrive and at some point, he thought they had changed their mind and would no longer meet him.
However, he described a moment when he saw his father and brother approaching him with a “grim, almost menacing” expression. The Duke remembered offering them “a weak smile”, which was not returned, leaving him feeling “a hugely intense vulnerability”.
He thought of his late mother, Princess Diana, hoping she could provide him strength during the encounter, reports the Mirror.
Harry disclosed that when he greeted his brother “Willy” and his father, whom he affectionately referred to as “Pa”, their response was a single and “painfully tepid” word: “Harold.”
Harry penned: “Finally, I saw them. Shoulder to shoulder, advancing towards me, they appeared grim, almost threatening. Moreover, they seemed tightly united. My stomach sank. Usually, they’d be arguing over something or other, but now they seemed to be in unison – in alliance. The thought struck me: Wait, are we meeting for a stroll…or a duel?
“I rose from the wooden bench, took a hesitant step towards them, offered a weak smile. They didn’t reciprocate. Now my heart truly began pounding in my chest. Deep breaths, I told myself. Besides fear, I was experiencing a kind of heightened awareness, and a hugely intense vulnerability, which I’d felt at other pivotal moments of my life. Walking behind my mother’s coffin. Entering battle for the first time. Delivering a speech amidst a panic attack.”
“There was that same sense of embarking on a quest, and not knowing if I was up to it, while also fully knowing that there was no turning back. That Fate was in the saddle. OK, Mummy, I thought, picking up the pace, here goes. Wish me luck. We met in the middle of the path. Willy? Pa? Hello. Harold. Painfully tepid.”
Prince Harry has disclosed in his explosive memoir that he was dubbed “Spare” by his father, Prince Charles, shortly after his birth. The Duke of Sussex recounts Charles’s words: “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done.”
The Guardian highlighted Prince Harry’s deep-seated resentment towards his moniker ‘Spare’, which permeates his tell-all book. The publication observes that this bitterness forms a continuous thread throughout the narrative, touching on his upbringing, education, Royal duties, military service, familial relationships, romance with Meghan, and their journey into parenthood.
Kensington Palace was contacted for comment.
