'Scores Had to Be Settled': Prince Harry Advised to 'Draw a Line and Move on' Past Royal Tell-Alls
Harry, Duke of Sussex, felt that he had 'scores to be settled' with his royal tell-alls but is now being advised to 'move on.'
How will Prince Harry surprise the world in 2024? This is the question numerous royal commentators are asking in the possible expectation of a Spare 2.0.
"I don’t think Spare has presented Harry in the best light," royal expert Joe Little told an outlet when assessing the Duke of Sussex's public profile one year after his bombshell memoir.
Harry's autobiography was summarized by numerous analysts as a way of "fighting back" against both his family insecurities and his years-long hatred of the media. "I think perhaps scores had to be settled, but at what cost?" Little added. "But you just have to draw a line and move on. Perhaps he feels that he’s said all that needs to be said."
As to whether the beleaguered Duke would continue with the "tell-all" circuit, Little observed: "You’d hope not. But I would say they’ve done a huge amount of damage to the institution as a whole, intentionally or unintentionally, in the past few years."
But based on Harry's statements when he was on the promotion circuit for the tome one year ago, he may very well come back with a sequel. The fiery-haired prince said that he had to take parts out of the book to "protect" King Charles III and Prince William's reputations.
"It could have been two books, put it that way," Harry told an outlet. "And the hard bit was taking things out. There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know."
"Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me," he added.
Others have offered insight into how Harry's book is a "cry for help" of sorts.
"The story is a slightly tragic one as it has damaged this idea of a family monarchy,” royal historian Dr. Ed Owens said on the "Pod Save the King" podcast. "The idea that this is a united group who embody, if you like, the best of British family life."
"Originally, King Charles III’s reign was going to be based around him being supported by his two trusty lieutenants — William and Harry," Owens observed. "But when that went so disastrously wrong in 2020 because of Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave Britain, it really put paid to that vision of the family monarchy."
Owens also gave insight into how the tone and presentation of the monarchy should evolve as the ultra-modern 21st century continues.
"Do away with this family narrative once and for all. We don’t need to have this big royal family presenting themselves as moral exemplars. King Charles is uniquely placed because he knows firsthand that the ideal of the family rarely matches the reality of the family monarchy," he suggested.
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Daily Express reported on Little's remarks.
