Spare’s release has upended the narrative about brothers William and Harry

Yes, there is even a reference to freezing the penis in the memoir of the prince Harry, Spare, but that’s not the only shocking detail that transpires from the first rumors on those pages: in the book, Harry claims that the prince william allegedly physically assaulted him during a 2019 argument about Meghan Markle.

But, let’s face it, since the release of the Harry and Meghan docuseries on Netflix, it has been clear that the couple has William in their sights and now in Shoot the tones rise again, involving not a little as well Kate Middleton. Added to the more emotionally significant facts is the reference to William’s “alarming” hairline and it seems clear that by now Harry is willing to shoot even at low blows.

Since the Sussexes have gone to America, many have wondered if Harry and William will ever be able to get along, apologize and clarify. On Vanity Fair we’ve addressed the issue hundreds of times, however, exploring William’s possible fears that private conversations might be made public.

But just by telling the story of an alleged quarrel, Harry finally raised the question that was always worth asking: do you want to make peace with your family?

Although Harry told a Tom Bradbywho would like to mend his relationship with his brother and father, King Charles III, the stories contained in the book clarify the terms of any reunion. Harry’s willingness to publicize that physical confrontation with his brother, or to mention his frustration with his father’s printing strategy, shows that he feels deeply offended by what has happened in recent years. If William and Charles are ever going to attempt to make amends, they now have no choice but to jump this rather high hurdle.

It’s too soon to tell if the royals will publicly respond to the allegations made in the book. So far, most of the information we have comes from the Spanish-language version of the book, which went on sale in Spain earlier than elsewhere and was bought by media around the world. So our first introductions to the details of the book come as a translation of a translation and yet Harry’s exact words are still largely unknown, even if the first hints are quite unsettling.

When Harry first announced his memoir production deal with Penguin Random House in July of 2021, news also broke that JR Moehringer he had signed on as a ghostwriter. It seemed like a good choice, because Moehringer had written movingly about masculinity, ambition and, in his work on open Of Andre Agassi, had been able to tell very well the father-son relationships. The combination of depth and sheer honesty, with some even goofy elements, made it open a classic of the genre and Harry is probably going the Agassi route, complete with sexual details and hints of drug use, which is working.

The negative reaction to the book in the British press so far appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to embarrassment, and could also suggest that the royal palace may not get answers, already satisfied as they are with defenders on their side. In the Daily Mail, the combative columnist Jan Moir summed up a common reaction to the news, calling Harry a “grudgesome man” in an article with the headline: “If William really pushed little Harry (and broke his necklace) you can understand why.” A combination of Sussex weariness and all-out defense of the Royal Family could play in the Windsors’ favor, as they could get the benefit of the doubt from the public that really matters to them.

This is, of course, the strategy the royals have always pursued, the monarchy having survived a tumultuous 20th century by handling the media and paying close attention to public reactions. But we have also seen how the excessive focus on appearances over deeper values ​​is often reflected in the palace’s desire to protect the image of the king and heirs at all costs, even allowing and inflicting damage to the reputation of other family members .

Harry’s deep grievances towards his family are just the latest in a long history of misadventures. Harry has always been described as the impulsive and rebellious brother. As Harry surely knew, writing a book that divulged a lot of deeply personal information about the family would be the most effective way to attack William within the system.