'Spare' but not stingy: takeaways from Prince Harry's memoir
CTV
From the book's opening citation of William Faulkner, to Prince Harry's passionate bond with his wife Meghan, you could almost call the Duke of Sussex's memoir 'The Americanization of Prince Harry.'
From the book's opening citation of William Faulkner, to Prince Harry's passionate bond with his wife Meghan, you could almost call the Duke of Sussex's memoir "The Americanization of Prince Harry."
Bereaved boy, troubled teen, wartime soldier, unhappy royal -- many facets of Prince Harry are revealed in his explosive memoir, often in eyebrow-raising detail. Running throughout is Harry's desire to be a different kind of prince -- the kind who talks about his feelings, eats fast food and otherwise doesn't hide beyond a prim facade.
Like an American.
From accounts of cocaine use and losing his virginity to raw family rifts, "Spare" exposes deeply personal details about Harry and the wider royal family. Even Americans may flinch when he confides that a trip to the North Pole left him with frostbitten genitals that proved most irritating during his brother's wedding to Kate.
The book opens with a famous quote from Faulkner, bard of the American South: "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
Harry's story is dominated by his rivalry with elder brother Prince William and the death of the boys' mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. Harry, who was 12 at the time, has never forgiven the media for Diana's death in a car crash while being pursued by photographers.
The loss of his mother haunts the book, which Harry dedicates to Meghan, children Archie and Lili "and, of course, my mother."
