Controversy in the British Royal Family.

George Symonds Head of News

By now the news of the feuding between two royal brothers has spread. However, after the publication and release of Prince Harry’s book ‘Spare’ on the 10th of January; we have now been offered a glance into the not so idyllic life of the British Royal Family.

The biography details the life of Prince Harry, 38, with chapters focusing on his time in the British Army, his relationship with his departed mother- Diana, confrontations with his father and brother- King Charles III and Prince William whilst also detailing his life with his wife- Meghan. Whilst the biography has sold more than 750,000 copies in the UK alone with 400,00 being sold on its first day of release (making it the UK’s fastest selling memoir ever) many believe that the publication of private family moments should be kept private.

Despite public opinion, all was focused on how the British Royal Family would respond. A ‘Royal Source’ had told popular magazine US Weekly that “Charles is distraught. He’s angry and outraged that Harry’s aired so many embarrassing and damaging assertions, and it’s put him in a terrible position with Camilla of course now that she’s been dragged into the equation,” the insider said. As of February 2023, there has been no official response from the British Royal Family and will “likely continue not to dignify his (Harry’s) comments”.

The British public has seemingly continued to be divided by the publication of ‘Spare’ with interviews from the BBC detailing that every moment and story within the biography can be debated to the extreme. An infamous moment where Harry and William had supposedly argued so much that the future king was “seething” leading to William “grabbing me by the collar, ripping my neck- lace, and … knocking me to the floor” has left the public split. The issue many have with Harry’s biography is a matter of truth; Maanya Sachdeva for the Independent newspaper lists many “inaccuracies’’ within ‘Spare’. Moments such as when Harry recalled where he was when the Queen Mother died and how he enjoyed visiting TK Maxx for their “once-a-year sale” were both proven to be fabricated with documented evidence. In response to the British media’s clapback of his book, Prince Harry discussed with US comedian Stephen Colbert that he is not surprised saying that “this is the other side of the story and there’s a lot in there that perhaps makes people feel un- comfortable and scared.” CNN reported that perhaps the British media were less focused on what was included in Harry’s biography and more centred on what the rest of the British Royal Family were doing in response. Instead of a fiery reaction, King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales visited local communities in Scotland, with photographs showing the monarch laughing with members of the public.

Now that the biography has been released for nearly a month, rumours on whether Harry and Meghan will attend, or even be invited, to King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday the 6th of May have circulated. Palace aides are reportedly in talks with the BBC about the King doing an interview with the broadcaster in order to “share his side of the story, as a follow-up to Prince Harry’s revealing Netflix documentary with his wife Meghan, his memoir Spare and his series of interviews given to different broadcasting outlets earlier this month.” (Ellie Muir Independent).

The King is supposedly in support of his son and daughter-in-law attending but whether or not the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attend the coronation in Westminster Abbey has not yet been confirmed.