“It’s very sad and I hate to say it but I am glad that the Queen’s not around to hear and see all this because I think it would have really hurt her” – said a man who doesn’t belong to the royal family but who was close to it as a butler of prince Charles, then heir to the throne. Most of the British must share his opinion, if prince Harry, the perpetrator of the whole fuss – misfortune, scandal, affair, whichever one prefers – fell to the very bottom of the royal family popularity ranking.

Grant Harrold, now the owner of a servants’ school and an etiquette expert (who doesn’t remember Carson’s butler from the “Downton Abbey” series, the palace authority on manners and style), said, among other things, that for Queen Elizabeth II, family was everything. Meanwhile, Harry, one of her grandchildren, not only rejected the family, but also disregarded the sacred royal motto: “Never complain, never explain”. He tells what is happening among the Windsors, reports private meetings and conversations and tears everybody to pieces. Only Meghan, his American wife, is flawless.

Should this be surprising? Not really. Harry has caused enough trouble for the Queen, Prince Philip, his father and family over the past two years, since he left the court and Britain with Meghan and son Archie. His autobiography – or, more precisely, a quasi-autobiography, because Harry only told stories, and the form of his accounts was given by the American journalist J.R. Moehringer - this is just the last straw that broke the camel’s back. The title “Spare” – literally: substitute – defines Harry’s place in the line of succession behind his brother William, but also his state of mind. The essence of the matter is perfectly reflected in the planned title of the Polish edition: “The Second One”.

Once with poison and dagger, today with words

History knows thousands of “those second ones” – princes like Harry, always one step behind their older brothers, heir to the throne. Many a one was consumed by great ambition, lust for power, envy or inferiority complex, many a one was driven to terrible deeds. Being a king nowadays is no longer that alluring as it used to be since it doesn’t mean real power but imposes many obligations. Dagger, poison, rebellion – the old-fashioned, effective ways of solving the problem are also gone. One can however use the word.

SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE It’s true that the last straw broke the camel’s back but, as it seems, only in the private sphere. Could it turn out to be a devastating tsunami for the monarchy? For now, there is no indication that Harry’s biography could shake the monarchy. People reach for a book, but more probably because it is an excellent opportunity to see what happens when the door is closed to them, not through the keyhole - which, after all, is offered almost every day by gossip tabloids - but through the wide open door. . Not only did Harry open it, he invited everyone inside. And as you can see, he hurt himself. This way, paradoxically, it can rather strengthen the position of prince William, who clearly gains in comparison to his younger brother. Just like king Charles against the backdrop of his younger brother – the glitz-hungry prince Andrew.

The thing is Harry has trampled all good manners in one go, forgetting about the noblesse oblige golden rule. He has torn his family to pieces, aired his grievances – both real and imaginary ones, and confided his intimacy to the whole world, just as crude celebrities love doing while princes of the blood certainly shouldn’t. Zero discretion, full exhibitionism instead.

If anyone felt unsatisfied, additional comprehensive explanations could be obtained from the the prince himself, who, around the date of publication of the book, i.e. January 10, made a series of television appearances, giving lengthy interviews to the British station ITV and three American channels. Advertising in this form, fueling interest and widely practiced, was not even necessary in this case, because interest had been fueling itself for several weeks. It was no coincidence that in December Netflix broadcast a six-episode biographical series about the royal couple. The publisher of the book, Penguin Random House, also used a trick that worked perfectly when launching the next volumes of the Harry Potter series: a night sale, starting at the stroke of midnight.

Brawl in the kitchen, sex in the back room

The success was completed by a true avalanche of – probably controlled – leaks. Is it a coincidence that a few days before the premiere, the Spanish translation of “Spare” hit the bookstores? Although they were quickly withdrawn due to “a mistake”, curiosity was effectively stimulated, and at the same time not completely satisfied. Everyone learned the most important, and certainly the most shocking details, and many became eager to see for themselves what else was there.

The nuances of form are irrelevant here. What matters is the content: bare facts and ardent feelings. The life of the now 38-year-old prince comes down to a few basic threads, so let’s recapitulate them.

First of all, the family (dysfunctional, according to the left-wing media). Relations with father and brother, of course, not the best. Camilla, his father’s second wife, now queen – “dangerous” because she was the one who, in Harry's opinion, passed information from the court to the media. Brutal, nosy media. Military service in Afghanistan, 25 Taliban killed. Private moral affairs – drug experiments in his youth and sexual initiation, somewhere at the back of a pub, with a woman older than the then 17-year-old prince. No understatement: “She treated me like a young stud,” confides Harry.

But it was not this thread, no doubt in a very bad style, that attracted the most attention. Here the public has learned that even at the royal court there are outbreaks of fisticuffs! In the kitchen of Kensington Palace. “William grabbed me by the collar and threw me to the floor. He said I could give him back. But I didn’t” – Harry recounts, adding, for the sake of clarity, “William is my archnemesis”. Prince Charles only asks: “Boys, do not poison the last years of my life”.

Finally, the two most important women: mother and wife. Harry felt so strongly the absence of his mother, whom he lost when he was only 12, that, as the BBC puts it, “what is most present in the book is her absence”. Diana died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997 and Harry, years later, went to see the place to face the trauma. And he was surprised to see that the tunnel at the Pont de l'Alma was short and straight, for he thought it was long and winding, so that it would be easy to knock into the wall when turning. This confirmed his belief that the media, ruthless in their pursuit of sensationalism, were to blame for Diana’s death.

In turn, Meghan Markle is a wronged woman: underestimated by the Royals (she is “difficult, irritating, impolite”, says William about her), depressed, and yet deprived of support and help. And finally, pushed away. When the Queen Elizabeth’s condition deteriorates considerably and Harry asks if he might come, the answer is yes – but without Meghan.

Hypocrite or idiot?

Will the British view Harry differently after reading the book? So far, up to 80 percent not only does she give him a bad review, but they don’t wish to see him home at all. And yet, until recently, the younger son of King Charles was liked more than his father and brother. He was the most popular member of the royal family after Queen Elizabeth. Harry undoubtedly lost this capital of sympathy.

This unanimity of opinion, however, does not apply to the opinion-forming circles, which are exceptionally divided on this matter. And no wonder, because it is easy to see how much the presented opinions are a derivative of their attitude towards the court and the monarchy. The left-wing media generally show understanding for the hard-fought Harry, who paints an unflattering picture of his family.

The conservative media, on the contrary. In the conduct of the prince, they see disloyalty, an ugly style, a bad attitude towards the loved ones, as well as a complete lack of objectivity, especially when it comes to Meghan. Thus, they see that Harry, brought up in a family which, despite all the excesses of its representatives, is the quintessence of tradition, completely disregarded everything that is important.

Examples? “The infantile British royal family” – the left-leaning weekly New Statesman points out – “is meant to be seen, not heard. So it doesn’t comment on what is in Harry’s book either”. The weekly therefore praises the mere fact that the prince decided to speak out, because in this way he broke the existing silence and showed the facts that his family would like to hide.

“What Harry says”, writes in turn the conservative weekly Spectator, “is unconvincing and very hurtful to many decent people. (...) His accusations against family members are the worst, because they are based only on hearsay: someone says that the king said something when the prince was born. It is also his toxic speculation, for example, regarding the long-term strategy that the queen (meaning queen Camilla – ed.) was supposed to adopt to secure the crown. It’s unforgivable, especially towards a woman so decent."

Thanks to his birth, according to the weekly, Harry has gained a position for which he is simply not suited. And if he now says he would like to mend his relationship with his father and brother, he is “either a hypocrite or a complete idiot”.

In turn, according to the weekly Economist, Harry’s biography is completely ill-conceived and completely unreliable. “Harry is rarely to blame. He explains the idea of wearing a Nazi uniform to the costume ball, saying that such orders were given to him by Herr and Frau Obergruppenführer William and Kate. Camilla is an intriguer and the embodiment of evil, and Charles – a fool. It doesn’t concern only Meghan. Because she’s perfect”.

And a GB News TV journalist asks a quick question: “Who could blame prince William for once slapping his spoiled little brother? What to do when his woman irritates everyone and the older brother is unable to bring the younger one to order?

In buzz and glamour

Will Harry attend his father’s coronation ceremony scheduled for May 6? Will he be invited at all? According to the tabloid “The Sun”, which is trying to find that out, King Charles is still hesitating. Harry is a son, after all, and an invitation would be a goodwill gesture. The king’s siblings princess Anne and the youngest brother Edward are said to oppose this.

The interest in “Spare” is undoubtedly high. 400,000 copies were sold on the first day, which, according to the publisher, is a record when it comes to non-fiction. What is the reason for this? Buyers asked by the media usually explain that they want to confront what they have heard about the book with what is in it. The promotional price - £14 instead of the list price of £28 – also favors shopping.

But there are also situations like the one that occurred to a certain Scottish journalist. When she went to the checkout with the book, bought on behalf of the editorial office and, as she writes, for professional purposes only, she was asked by an appalled saleswoman whether she really intended to increase Prince Harry’s fortune and contribute to the luxury in which he lives.

For “Spare”, Harry has received 20 million dollars. But as the insiders claim, there is a plan to publish a total of four books for which he is to earn as much as 40 million. To add to this revenues form films, meetings, interviews etc., it turns out that living in California and switching from the royal to the Hollywood style is very profitable.

How does this new lifestyle, full of buzz and glamour, compare with the peace and privacy which the royal couple craved so much that they decided to leave the court? Such a very legitimate question was asked in one of the last television interviews. And in fact, it was left unanswered.

– Teresa Stylińska
– Translated by Dominik Szczęsny-Kostanecki

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists