Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’ Is “Tough on William in Particular,” Report Says

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published 1 January 2023

Finally, someone with (alleged) knowledge of the contents of Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir, Spare, is speaking out—and it appears the tome is none too kind to Prince William, Harry’s older brother, multiple outlets report. A source with knowledge of the book tells The Sunday Times that the “personal and emotional” book is “tough on William in particular,” mirroring exactly Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s Netflix docuseries, in which the lion’s share of criticism went to the Prince of Wales.

“Generally, I think the book [will be] worse for them than the royal family is expecting,” the source tells The Sunday Times. “Everything is laid bare. Charles comes out of it better than I had expected, but it’s tough on William in particular, and even Kate gets a bit of a broadside.”

In Harry & Meghan, Harry claimed that William “screamed and shouted” at him at a family meeting at Sandringham to discuss Harry and Meghan’s impending exit as working members of the royal family.

“There are these minute details and a description of the fight between the brothers,” the source says of the book. “I personally can’t see how Harry and William will be able to reconcile after this.”

The Sun reports that “the memoir will answer questions which were not broached in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix show,” and the outlet reports that experts believe dramatic moments were held back from the docuseries to be saved as content for Harry’s book.

“It is very clear that Harry is holding things back for his book,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams tells the outlet. “All of this is part of a gigantic operation with huge money to play for. You always have to hold things back if you want them to sell, because you want sensation. Netflix feel as though they’ve gotten their money’s worth with their six hours of content, but it’s clear there is more drama to come in the book. The book is titled Spare and it's perfectly obvious that there’s not much brotherly love around.”

According to The Independent, Spare is just the first part in a $20 million four-book deal between Harry and Meghan and publisher Penguin Random House, potentially setting Meghan up for a tell-all of her own in the future, as Marie Claire has previously reported. Spare hits shelves on January 10.

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.