Prince Harry was no doubt one of the most popular members of the Royal Family throughout his life until 2020, when he decided to step back from royal duty alongside his wife Meghan Markle. Since then, the Duke of Sussex, 40, and Meghan, 43, have suffered from a decline in popularity in the UK, which seems to be on a downwards slope.
While Harry has insisted he is enjoying life in Montecito, the prince did not leave his royal grudges behind when he moved to America five years ago. Instead, he went on to make a number of public criticisms about royal life, including in his bombshell memoir Spare published in 2023.
In the memoir, Harry continues to come back to the idea of his role as a “spare” to the throne, with a royal author claiming that by branding himself with this nickname, he has chosen to “wreak vengeance”.
In his book, Harry wrote: “I was the shadow, the support, the Plan B. I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy.
“I was summoned to provide back up, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a ‘spare’ part. Kidney perhaps. Blood transfusion. Speck of bone marrow.”
However, royal expert and author of ‘My Mother and I’ Ingrid Seward has said this is not true at all.
As reported by The Daily Mail, she wrote in her book: “That is completely untrue, of course, but it was how Harry chose to see it and allow it to dominate his life to the extent that he would eventually make a career out of it.”
She continued: “He chooses to be a victim and wreak vengeance on the slights he thought he had suffered; on his family; on the press and through the courts.”
In his memoir, Harry claimed that he was sometimes referred to as a “spare”, suggesting that it was not just his own vision of his role and belonging.
Talking about the day he was born, Harry claimed that King Charles – who was Prince of Wales at the time of his youngest son’s birth in 1984 – called him a “spare”.
He claimed his father told his late mother Princess Diana at the time: “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done.”