Prince Harry Says the Royal Family May Thank Him for ‘Spare’ in Five or 10 Years

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published 15 January 2023

In a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph, Prince Harry says that—despite ample tensions in present day—the royal family might thank him for writing his explosive tell-all Spare down the line.

Speaking to journalist Bryony Gordon, Harry says that he accepts that any chance of reconciliation is unlikely at the moment but doesn’t close the door for the future.

“What I’ve realized is that you don’t make any friends, especially within your family, because everyone has learned to accept that trauma [as] part of life,” he says. “How dare you, as an individual, talk about it, because that makes us all feel really uncomfortable? So, right, you may not like me in the moment, but maybe you’ll thank me in five or 10 years’ time.”

The book is filled within its 416 pages of shocking revelations about the royal family, from an apparently one-sided physical altercation between Harry and older brother Prince William to Camilla, Queen Consort’s “dangerous” campaign to rehabilitate her image, trading negative stories about William and Harry for positive ones about herself in the British press. Yet, “despite the shocking claims, Prince Harry has maintained that his estranged family may thank him for exposing the inner workings of the royal family and the monarchy someday,” The Independent reports.

Though a large chunk of the book is about other members of the royal family, much of it, of course, is about Harry himself, especially trauma he’s faced through his mother’s death in a car accident when he was 12 to serving in Afghanistan.

“There is this sense that [Harry] really does want to let his family know he’s hurting,” trauma recovery expert Dr. Lisa Turner tells The Independent. “Hurt people hurt others. They do it completely unintentionally. Because their hurt is so present, they can’t perceive anyone else’s hurt.”

Harry says in The Telegraph that, despite what some may think, Spare “is not about trying to collapse the monarchy—this is about trying to save them from themselves,” he says. “I know that I will get crucified by numerous people [for] saying that.”

Spare sold 1.4 million copies across the U.K., U.S., and Canada on its release day last Tuesday, The Independent reports—making it the fastest-selling nonfiction book in history.

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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.