Harry & Meghan 14: The Reverse Harry - Restoring the Angevin Empire

[QuiverFullofBooks]

1 hour ago, TN-peach said:

Apparently, there was no one to fact check the book either.  So far people have found these discrepancies:

 

In the book, Harry says he was at Eton and it was a bright sunny day when he found out about Queen Mother's Death.  Reality - In Switzerland skiing with Charles and William.

In the book, he claims that he received an X box for a present after his mother died.  In reality, the X box wasn't released until 4-5 years later.

He also claimed to feel sorry for one of the earlier King Henry's who was his multiple-great grandfather yet actually that Henry's line died out. 

 

These details like the tailor confirming that all 6 bridesmaids dresses had to be remade because they were too big are really beginning to show that Henry may not be a reliable narrator.  If he can't get these easily checked details right, then how can he get the other details right?!

I agree that the book needed more fact-checking. The first one seems like the most serious problem, and I have no explanation for it. It’s well known that Diana had already bought a video game console for Harry’s birthday present before she died. If it was some brand other than an XBox, I really don’t care, but some people would.

It does bug me that Harry referred to Henry VI as his ancestor, but it’s probably part of a common tendency to refer generally to people in earlier generations of one’s family as ancestors, without grasping the literal meaning. Also, as already pointed out, Harry doesn’t give a flying fuck about royal history. One thing that he did not mention in the book (but is depicted in the recent season of The Crown) is that William made regular visits to the Queen at Windsor Castle while he was at Eton for lessons in his future role. The Queen would have the Royal Librarian bring out a document or object for them to talk about. Harry was not invited. Maybe he rebelled against his Eton lessons in royal history because he wasn’t getting them from the Queen.

[Alisamer]

46 minutes ago, noseybutt said:

Th at article kind of makes me want to read the book because it sounds like that ghost writer wrote brilliantly—if it were in a different genre. 

I am finding the writing to be good! It's easy to picture what's going on much of the time. It's written from Harry's perspective with enough detail about everything to help you to "see" what's going on (he says once his memory for places is better than for events and time), and so far once I got past the constant use of "Harold" (apparently a childhood nickname, I guess, it's not been explained as such though) it's been holding my attention.

The first bit set after Prince Philip's funeral is eye-rollingly self involved, I thought. But the recollections from childhood (just before Diana's death, and focused a LOT on her afterward) are interesting and fairly sympathetic at least at first. There's also a lot of strangeness. I'm not sure how much of it is true Royal weirdness and how much is Harry's imagination intruding into his "memories" though. 

 

[Jackie3]

If you don't like Harry, why line his pockets by buying the book? 

[Alisamer]

Who are you asking?

I didn't buy it, nor do I dislike Harry. 

[klein_roeschen]

No need to engage @Alisamer, she is trolling these threads for several threads now. She just put out the bait. Think of her like Jill just with Harry and Megan instead of Plexus

[Alisamer]

1 minute ago, klein_roeschen said:

No need to engage @Alisamer, she is trolling these threads for several threads now. She just put out the bait. Think of her like Jill just with Harry and Megan instead of Plexus

Oh I know. And I usually try not to respond, and never use reactions on her posts. But I'm genuinely curious who she was referring to! Especially considering it's her posts here that have actually caused many people to go from finding Harry a curious celebrity to disliking him. 

She seems fairly normal and sane outside this one section of the forum for the most part, and even here she started out with valid points just presented antagonistically, but then apparently went off the rails. Which is kind of fascinating TBH. If she'd engage genuinely without trolling she could be a valuable voice, but she's apparently chosen evil. But just in regard to H&M for some reason. I don't get it. 

[hoipolloi]

3 hours ago, TN-peach said:

In the book, Harry says he was at Eton and it was a bright sunny day when he found out about Queen Mother's Death.  Reality - In Switzerland skiing with Charles and William.

It was this type of error that brought an end to Marion Crawford's career as a columnist on the BRF for Woman's Own:

Quote

[After publishing The Little Princesses, Crawford] wrote, or at least lent her name to, lives of Queen Mary in 1951, Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, and Princess Margaret in 1953, and gave her name to a regular column on royal affairs in Woman’s Own. This column was always written six weeks ahead of time, a fact which was Crawford’s undoing. The 16 June 1955 issue of Woman’s Own carried a piece under her name describing the annual Queen’s Birthday Parade and Royal Ascot. Both events had been cancelled at the last moment because of a rail strike.

 

[Loveday]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

Who are you asking?

I didn't buy it, nor do I dislike Harry. 

I don't dislike Harry, either. Not a huge fan, but I can take him or leave him.

If I do read Spare--BIG IF!--I'll put it on reserve at the library. Where, apparently, a lot of other people are waiting for it. 183, to be precise, thus far. Seems quite a few others don't want to line Harry's pockets! I'm more than willing to wait my turn. 😆

 

[noseybutt]

6 minutes ago, Loveday said:

I don't dislike Harry, either. Not a huge fan, but I can take him or leave him.

If I do read Spare--BIG IF!--I'll put it on reserve at the library. Where, apparently, a lot of other people are waiting for it. 183, to be precise, thus far. Seems quite a few others don't want to line Harry's pockets! I'm more than willing to wait my turn. 😆

 

I kind of dislike the entire family.

When I think which Royal I would prefer to randomly sit next to on an airplane, Harry is near the top of the list simply because it would be an entertaining conversation. 

[viii]

I don't even need to read it with the complete influx of articles. I feel like I HAVE already read it. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

Meghan has always claimed that she didn’t Google Harry, and I for one did not believe her. Harry seems determined to prove it was true in the book. (I do think it can be a good idea. Even with regular people, you can find out a lot online, and then you feel like a stalker.) Anyway, the funny part. After the famous drop-in at Royal Lodge, Meghan didn’t realize who Andrew was! Her assumption was that he was the Queen’s assistant. Or possibly the whole thing is a lie intended to distance themselves from Andrew. Who knows? 

[Coconut Flan]

I never found it credible that someone running a lifestyle blog and therefore social media savvy wouldn't do a quick search or at least read the Wiki page for him.  The only way she  didn't realize who Andrew was is if she didn't recognize him.  Distance from Andrew I can believe. Perhaps they should have left the whole meeting the Queen at Royal Lodge out of everything.  Neither one improved their image with that tale.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Coconut Flan

[Manda]

Quote

The one potential saving grace I gave Harry and Meghan's docuseries in my review was that it produced important conversations about breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma. But the pettiness of "Spare" exposes him as a wounded, power-hungry individual who wants to air his grievances on his terms (knowing all too well the royal family can and will not retaliate) rather than someone who genuinely seeks to heal. And his immaturity, reductiveness and inability to accept accountability, in any meaningful way, for his wrongdoings, all work to undermine the evolved, enlightened, anti-racist he’s painting himself as.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/spare-book-pokes-holes-prince-harry-rebrand-rcna65400

[Jackie3]

5 hours ago, Loveday said:

I don't dislike Harry, either. Not a huge fan, but I can take him or leave him.

If I do read Spare--BIG IF!--I'll put it on reserve at the library. Where, apparently, a lot of other people are waiting for it. 183, to be precise, thus far. Seems quite a few others don't want to line Harry's pockets! I'm more than willing to wait my turn. 😆

 

This means the library will order more copies.  

According to the New York Times, Spare is breaking sales records.

Quote

Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” has become a record-breaking success, with first-day sales that exceed some of publishing’s biggest hits, including blockbusters by Barack and Michelle Obama.

“Spare” sold more than 1.43 million copies in all formats in the United States, Canada and Britain, including pre-orders, according to its publisher. The figure marked the largest first-day sales for any nonfiction book ever published by Penguin Random House, the world’s largest publisher.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/books/harry-memoir-sales-spare.html#:~:text=“Spare” sold more than 1.43,orders%2C according to its publisher.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Jackie3

[Anne Of Gray Gables]

I'm not what anyone would consider a royal watcher (okay, well I know the names of all of Queen Victoria's kids but that's a different story) and I can confirm the book is wonderfully written. He didn't write the words of course, but you can hear his voice and I can't imagine that is an easy feat for the ghost writer.  Really well done.

I'm only about 20% of the way through and I can feel nothing but sorrow and sympathy for young Harry. Not just because he lost his mother at 12, but because how he had to grow up in school and amongst the Royal family.  Sound bites really can't convey it. He wasn't just your typical poor little rich boy with a much more important older brother. Having the press in his face even over normal things like his crappy school grades and worrying constantly over which friends he could trust had to have taken a major toll. And he didn't have the level of protection from the media others had.

"Spare" is a perfect title. While I don't see him reconciling with his family after this, I do hope at least a few of them take the time to listen to what things were like for him.

But again, long way to go yet....

 

[noseybutt]

Thank you to the readers chiming in.

Often times sound bytes convey the opposite when taken out of context.

It’s hard not to laugh at the line about his brother and his frostbitten penis. Just putting those two in the same sentence is so hilarious and wrong. But, I suspect that he felt like he had lost his family of origin and then starting his own family was not off to a rip roaring start. Those kinds of emotions are more understandable.

[TeaGrannie]

I was in line at the library and it said I’d be waiting months…..they must have added copies because it came to my account today. Off to read it, will report back. 
 

[Anne Of Gray Gables]

11 hours ago, TN-peach said:

Apparently, there was no one to fact check the book either.  So far people have found these discrepancies:

 

In the book, Harry says he was at Eton and it was a bright sunny day when he found out about Queen Mother's Death.  Reality - In Switzerland skiing with Charles and William.

In the book, he claims that he received an X box for a present after his mother died.  In reality, the X box wasn't released until 4-5 years later.

He also claimed to feel sorry for one of the earlier King Henry's who was his multiple-great grandfather yet actually that Henry's line died out. 

 

These details like the tailor confirming that all 6 bridesmaids dresses had to be remade because they were too big are really beginning to show that Henry may not be a reliable narrator.  If he can't get these easily checked details right, then how can he get the other details right?!

 

I see this book as a memoir more than an autobiography. I went through a phase when I read a lot of memoirs, and because they're based on the author's memories, there are often mistakes and discrepancies.  Harry may remember the video console as an X box and we may know that's impossible, but it's his memory and somewhere along the line he started remembering it as a an X box.  But the general idea and the feelings associated with the memory may be the same.

An autobiography, on the other hand, should be well researched and factual. I prefer the subject's memories as they are, but I understand how these things bother some.  As an aside, I've noticed so far that Harry often tends not to fill gaps in his memory with stories. He'll say, "I simply can't remember what I was thinking/doing during those months". So he seems to resist the idea of outright creating memories to fill story gaps.

 

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

My library has about 250 waitlist for both hardcopy and audiobook.

Says 20 copies of hardcover. We'll see how it goes.

[just_ordinary]

Of course recollections may vary especially after a long time. But we talk about the self proclaimed warrior against misinformation and it seems that’s only a problem if it works against him. So how is it ok to publish all this and say it holds “as much truth” as “so-called objective facts” (which could be straight out of Donald Trump’s mouth by the way) but get all worked up if someone tells a story about a crying Kate and how it’s Meghan’s fault? How is dragging his family through the mud justified and true but the other must be malicious slander? How is K feeling offended by M light hearted comment a sign of being a mean and cold heart snob but when H got annoyed by W and his “help” to find a wedding venue it obviously must be W fault? I hate the double standards he has created. 
But I agree it’s easy readable and has nice flow.

[nelliebelle1197]

Here is a little fact checking- there are so many verifiable lies in this book, I do not think anything is real.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/queen-consort-camillas-friends-insist-she-didnt-scheme-to-be-queen?

 

 

[Anne Of Gray Gables]

3 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

So how is it ok to publish all this and say it holds “as much truth” as “so-called objective facts” (which could be straight out of Donald Trump’s mouth by the way) but get all worked up if someone tells a story about a crying Kate and how it’s Meghan’s fault? How is dragging his family through the mud justified and true but the other must be malicious slander? How is K feeling offended by M light hearted comment a sign of being a mean and cold heart snob but when H got annoyed by W and his “help” to find a wedding venue it obviously must be W fault? I hate the double standards he has created. 
But I agree it’s easy readable and has nice flow.

It's okay to pretty much publish anything anyone wants to publish and I'd recommend no one assume they're getting "objective facts" from a memoir. It's a collection of memories, and memories aren't necessarily always factual. This is Harry's perspective of things, not a researcher's.

Why Harry chose this route is another issue, and I concur that at times he comes off as hyper sensitive.  Two adult brothers get into scuffle and one lands on his arse?  Big deal. And he knows his family cannot respond to anything he says, so any accusations will always be just that, accusations. But it's up to the reader to come to their own conclusions about the material. I know when I read memoirs I'm not doing so I can root for the subject or agree or disagree with them. I'm reading it to hear their story. 

[nausicaa]

Like others, I'm really struck by his double standards in behavior. One of his most notable aspects of hypocrisy is that he's still a monarchist. 

So his complaints about being the "spare," make no sense. A monarchy requires some sort of succession rules. Really he's just mad that he didn't have the luck to be born first. 

Same for his complaints about press attention during his childhood and his mother's death. A monarchy means being born into celebrity, which means media attention on children.  

I still don't understand what he wants. Other than attention. 

[Coconut Flan]

His childhood may not have been what he wanted, but he really knows how to play the victim.  The victim schtick is his game and he's now a father rapidly approaching middle age.  It's like he's stuck and can't or won't move on.  Just like we expect our fundies to do better, Harry needs to get healthy mentally for his kids' sake and rehashing his childhood for money probably isn't going to get him there.  Sadly Meghan's overly dramatic renditions of life events will never help Harry become mentally healthy.  He says he got home to Meghan crying on the floor.  Again, way overly dramatic.  But it begs the question, did Kate cry in the car on the way home, did she cry with Charlotte looking at the sack of a dress, or did she cry when telling William about it?  They don't know unless they were told and Kate wouldn't have known about Meghan crying unless she was told.

All anyone had to do was look at Camilla's face after the Queen died to know she did not want to become Queen.  It was horror struck that the time she had been dreading had arrived.  

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Coconut Flan

[just_ordinary]

I am pretty baffled by his idea to be involved in the Commonwealth from a royal position. Especially after the Commonwealth = Empire 2.0 comparison in their documentary. Having a mixed race wife is most definitely not making it suddenly ok if you think the system itself is the big problem. That’s like using her heritage as a token. But then, he doesn’t think the RF is racist and SH is a sweet old lady. And that’s the thing. All their supporters seem to ignore that H still fiercely believes in and wants to benefit from the monarchy. Just one after his own liking.