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[katara]

Title: Spare

Author: Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex

Genre: Autobiography, British Royals, Historical Nonfiction, Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Politics, European Literature, British Literature

Date Started: January 14th, 2023

Date Finished: January 14th, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 4/5

Sypnosis: 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.

Review: On August 1997, the world lost Diana, Princess of Wales. Her two children, William and Harry, were devasted by her loss. Harry more than anything. For a long time, he believed that his mother was hiding away from the public and had faked her death...and she would be coming for both him and his older brother.

Unfortunately, that would never be the case and Harry grew up without her further guidance. There were a lot of mentions of his mother peppered throughout the book. Little pieces here and there of memories he had of her and you could definitely see that he was extremely attached to her. Her death had taken a toll on his life and you could see it during the early stages of his life.

In some of his stories, I felt sorry. Both he and his brother had drifted apart. His brother even seemed to be cold and distant toward Harry as they grew up. Case in point when they were at Eton. William did not want anything to do with his brother...told his brother to pretend like he did not know him. That is something you don't tell someone young, who much like yourself lost someone dear. Perhaps if William had offered guidance to his younger brother maybe things would be different.

Again, all this is speculation in my thoughts. I understand and sympathized with Harry over his loss and understood that losing the one person in your life is something hard to deal with. Losing a parent changes everything in your life and the way you look at life altogether.

I was surprised to hear that Philip was Diana's biggest supporter seeing as there had been tales that say otherwise. I can only assume that since the source is the young prince that it is a possible truth.

But what does not surprise me is Camilla. She knew that once Diana was gone, the field was open to her and she saw the opportunity to become Queen Consort in the near future. This made me like her even less. Then again I never liked her at all. I had seen the things in the newspapers play out prior to Diana's death and during the stages of her marriage of Camilla being the rottweiler in heat.

This book is interesting but there are some things that have me questioning his perspective.