Prince Harry requested a “secret meeting” with his father, King Charles, and his brother, Prince William, during his visit to the UK for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
This marked Harry’s first return to England since stepping down as a senior royal and relocating to the United States with Meghan Markle.
Harry hoped the meeting would serve as an opportunity to discuss “the state of things” within the Royal Family. This was also the first time Harry had seen his family since the couple’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they shared their struggles within the monarchy and the reasons behind their departure.
In his book, Harry describes feeling anxious while waiting for the meeting.
He noted that when his father and brother finally arrived, they looked “grim” and “menacing,” which intensified his sense of vulnerability. Harry reflected on this moment, thinking of his late mother, Princess Diana, and hoping for her strength.
The Duke of Sussex recounted how his father and brother greeted him with a cold, single-word response, “Harold,” which left him deeply unsettled.
Harry recalled how the tension during the meeting reminded him of other pivotal moments, such as walking behind his mother’s coffin and going into battle for the first time.
Harry also touches on his longstanding resentment of being labelled “the spare” by his father in Spare. He reveals that King Charles jokingly remarked after his birth, “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare—my work is done.” This label and the associated feelings of being second-best have been a recurring theme throughout Harry’s life, shaping his experiences as a royal and his relationships with his family.
The revelations in Harry’s memoir shed light on the complex dynamics within the Royal Family, mainly his strained relationship with his father and brother. Kensington Palace has not commented on the claims made in the book.
