Prince William Vows to “Keep Going” While Speaking to a Well-Wisher at a Recent Royal Engagement

The future king is reportedly “horrified” by the contents of the book.

Prince William
(Image credit: Getty)

It had only been 48 hours since the publication of Prince Harry’s tell-all Spare when the Prince and Princess of Wales stepped out for their first working day of 2023 last Thursday. As William and Kate visited the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in Liverpool—their first of two stops on that day’s agenda—they stopped and greeted well-wishers as their visit concluded, including one elderly woman who “took the opportunity to provide some words of encouragement for the future king,” Page Six reports.

Clutching William’s hand, 81-year-old Sylvia said “Keep going, Will, scousers love you,” referring to the nickname for Liverpudlians, the outlet writes.

“I will do,” William defiantly responded, according to The Telegraph.

In Spare, Harry calls William both his “beloved brother” and his “archnemesis.” The title itself is a nod to “the heir and the spare,” the nicknames for William (the heir to the British throne) and Harry (quite crudely referred to as the “spare,” if something should ever happen to William).

After the book came out last Tuesday, a source told Us Weekly that William was “horrified” by his brother’s claims about him in his memoir.

“He doesn’t even recognize his own brother anymore,” the insider said. “He wants to believe that there’s still hope for peace down the line, but it’s hard. The fact Harry has been so rude and insulting towards him, his wife, his father, and the monarchy as a whole is just terrible, and he doesn’t see how Harry can possibly come back into the fold in any capacity now.”

The source continued “At this point, he’s got no plans to speak to Harry. He’s come to terms with the fact he’s lost his little brother, and quite possibly for life. He knew the book would be embarrassing and possibly explosive, but not like this. There’s just so much anger, warped interpretations, and, in some cases, outright untruths as far as William sees it.”

Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.