Prince Harry dressed up in department stores. He tells it in Spare

Super discounted clothes and a bodyguard as a stylist. The prince Harry he also talks about his relationship with fashion in Shoot, the memoir released on January 10 in which he spares no detail of his private life. Including it shopping. Those who imagine horse-drawn carriages full of bags or shops closed for his visit will be disappointed to learn that in reality the royal entered a famous department store twice a year and grabbed random clothes rummaging through the great bargains .

Harry in 2015 was single and looking for an author. Among the pages of the already best-selling book, we read that he went shopping alone disguised to throw off the press who called him a “slob”. His uniform consisted of a baseball cap pulled down and a loose coat. If in supermarkets he found it more difficult to play the part, the «Riserva», in this way the word «Spare» can be translated, tells us that in clothing stores everything was less complicated.

He used to tuck in usually every six months since TK Maxx, an American chain (in the USA it is called TJ Maxx) which sells everything from clothes to household items at discount prices. For shopping, he applied a plan designed precisely to reduce the operation to the bone. «I arrived at the shop a quarter of an hour before closing. I grabbed a red basket. I ran to the top floor. I moved systematically, inspecting shelf after shelf »he writes.

“There were a lot of bosses Gap or J.Crew that were just out of season or slightly damaged» adds Harry «calculating the timing well and arriving on the first day of sales, you could have snapped up the same clothes that others had paid for in gold in the shopping streets! For two hundred quid you could pass for one of the latest fashions».

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When something met her taste, she’d slip it into her cart after a quick glance in the mirror to see how it might fit. «I didn’t waste time with color or style and I certainly didn’t go near the dressing rooms» he reveals «if he was cute and comfortable he ended up in the trash. If I was undecided, I asked Billy the Rock (the bodyguard, ed). He had a lot of fun being my personal shopper ».

Obviously the British newspapers have found fault with this too, reporting the words of an anonymous spokesperson for the chain. “While we’re delighted that Prince Harry is a big fan of ours, we thought we should explain that we don’t actually do sales. Instead, we offer great quality, style and savings all year round».

Users of various social networks, from Instagram to Twitter, ran to deny the statement by publishing not only the announcements of TK Maxx’s “emptier all” but also a post dated 2013 in which the warehouse “boasted” of having an illustrious customer like Harry , paparazzi by Daily Mail with full bags outside a Kensington High Street outlet.

Returning to Harry’s wardrobe, the sum that the then Prince Charles passed to his son was intended for the clothes necessary to make a good impression on the occasion of formal events. Had it been up to him, the prince would not have dealt with all of this. He felt the need to calm down because his style was considered a bit too casual with clearly worn shoes and crumpled shirts which, he also confesses in Shoothe put to dry on the radiator after doing the laundry by himself.

His father tried to guide him on the path of elegance by giving him a pair of black brogues that he considered truly splendid. “Two works of art. They weighed like two bowling balls» thus describes Harry the lace-up shoes with the typical perforated decoration on the upper.

«I wore them until the soles were punctured and, when someone caught me for this, I made them resole» he says, learning the lesson from his father who is known to fix clothes and accessories while he can because he hates waste. («I have older shoes than my childrenthe current one used to joke King Charles III).

In short, for Harry shopping was a torture, as for many guys like him. «I wasn’t interested in clothes» he confesses «I basically didn’t follow fashion and I didn’t understand why people did». Now that he’s married to Meghan Markle, we assume that this too is one of the many aspects of its past existence called into question. And judging by the latest appearances, the days of bargain hunting are over.