Prince Harry says he was bred for ‘spare parts’ for William
Prince Harry bitterly believes he was only raised to literally provide spare parts for his brother in case the heir apparent ever needed new organs.
“Two years older than me, Willy was the heir, while I was the spare,” the exiled prince wrote, explaining the title of his memoir, Spare, which was officially published on Tuesday.
“I was the shadow, the support, the Plan B. I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy,” he wrote of his 40-year-old brother and current heir to the throne, William.
He said he understood his role was to be a “diversion” and “distraction” from his brother – or to provide, “if necessary, a backup” for him.
“Maybe the kidneys. Blood transfusion. A speck of bone marrow,” he added in uncanny detail.
He also noted how his father, now King Charles III, could never be on a plane with his eldest son, William, “because there should be no chance that the first and second in line to the throne to hide”.
“But no one cursed whom I traveled; The backup could always be spared,” Harry asserted.
“All of this was explicitly made clear to me early on in life’s journey and was regularly reinforced thereafter,” he asserted of his apparent family standing.
Harry complained that heir and reserve clarification “wasn’t just how the press referred to us” but was also “shorthand used by” his royal family, including “Mummy,” the late Princess Diana, “and even grandmother “. Queen Elizabeth II has since died.
Prince Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare, that he believes he was bred solely to exist as spare organs that could potentially be used for his older brother, Prince Williams. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Pool/File Photo Harry claimed that “Willy was the heir” while he was the “Swap” or “Plan B.” REUTERS/Andrew Parsons-POOL Harry wrote that the nickname Spare was used by his parents, King Charles and Princess Diana.Photo by Anwar Hussein/WireImage
He says he was 20 years old when he was first told that his father had greeted his birth by joking, “Wonderful! Now you have given me an heir and a reserve—my work is done.”
“A joke. Apparently,” Harry wrote, continuing his merciless dig at the king by claiming that “minutes after delivering this piece of high comedy, Pa told them he was off to meet his girlfriend” .
Despite naming his memoir “Spare” – and using his clear distaste for his role in life to justify his eventual separation from his family – Harry claims he was accepting of it at first.
Harry noted that William could never get on a plane with his father, but no one in the family cared who he traveled with. Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images
“I wasn’t offended, I didn’t feel anything about it,” he wrote – initially acknowledging his over-privileged life.
“Every boy and girl, at least once, imagines himself as a prince or a princess. So, reserve or no reserve, it wasn’t half bad to be really,” he admitted.
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However, this soon changed as Harry felt he had to make a “public sacrifice of reserves” to help raise other members of the royal family, starting with headlines in 2002 condemning his drug-addled lifestyle – which he now admits it was mostly true anyway.
It got worse when William and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, had two children, according to Harry – who reckons he was told that as fifth in line to the throne, he was no longer “even reserve of reserve”. .
Harry wrote that he was “not offended” at being called Reserve. Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images Harry’s memoir, Spare, was officially released on Tuesday. Alpha / Landov
However, his supposed role in life was largely blamed for one of the most dramatic moments in the book, when Harry claims his brother knocked him to the floor during a fight.
This, Harry wrote, was because William “was in full heir mode and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t dutifully playing the role of reservoir”.
The royal family has yet to comment on Harry’s book or his seemingly endless tour of television and magazine interviews.
