It’s safe to say Spare may be a tough read for Prince William. Us Weekly can confirm that Prince Harry doesn’t hold back when it comes to his rocky relationship with his brother in his memoir, which drops Tuesday, January 10.
As the title suggests, the 38-year-old prince is candid about being deemed the “spare” a.k.a. behind his older brother in line to the throne. He wrote that even their childhood bedroom in Balmoral was divided to give “Willy” the “larder half” with more luxurious accommodations.
“Two years older than me, Willy was the Heir, whereas I was the Spare. This wasn’t merely how the press referred to us — though it was definitely that. This was shorthand often used by Pa and Mummy and Grandpa. And even Granny,” Harry wrote about father King Charles III, mother Princess Diana, grandfather Prince Philip and grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry wrote that he felt like he was “the shadow, the support, the Plan B” and “brought into the world in case something happened to Willy.”
“I was summoned to provide backup, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part. Kidney, perhaps. Blood transfusion. Speck of bone marrow,” he wrote. “This was all made explicitly clear to me from the start of life’s journey and regularly reinforced after.”
The two brothers went through a series of ups and downs as they navigated life as members of the British royal family, with Harry writing that “as boys, [the siblings had] done nothing but fight.” The twosome even “had a million physical fights” throughout their lives, per the Duke of Sussex.
Harry wrote that William was there for him when he went through mental health struggles — sometimes. He recalled that William was the one to instruct him to get help when he initially started having panic attacks, but then mocked him after another incident. While they were bonded by the 1997 death of their mother, Diana, they didn’t always agree on how to handle matters within The Firm and things got tenser when Princess Kate (William’s wife) and Meghan Markle (Harry’s wife) didn’t always get along.
The Prince of Wales also allegedly believed Harry was moving too quickly with Meghan, whom he met in 2016. As viewers of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s CBS interview in 2021 and the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, which dropped in December 2022, may recall, the couple opted to step back from working for the royal family in early 2020 amid allegations of racism in the U.K. One year after Harry and Meghan, who share son Archie and daughter Lili, moved to America, their exit was made permanent.
As Harry has started to promote Spare, he’s been asked about his relationships with William and Charles. While he said in an upcoming ITV interview that he wants relationships with his brother and father, the palace has yet to comment on the various allegations in Spare and made in recent months.
Spare will be available on Tuesday, January 10. Scroll through for the biggest bombshells about William:
It’s safe to say Spare may be a tough read for Prince William. Us Weekly can confirm that Prince Harry doesn’t hold back when it comes to his rocky relationship with his brother in his memoir, which drops Tuesday, January 10.
As the title suggests, the 38-year-old prince is candid about being deemed the “spare” a.k.a. behind his older brother in line to the throne. He wrote that even their childhood bedroom in Balmoral was divided to give “Willy” the “larder half” with more luxurious accommodations.
“Two years older than me, Willy was the Heir, whereas I was the Spare. This wasn’t merely how the press referred to us — though it was definitely that. This was shorthand often used by Pa and Mummy and Grandpa. And even Granny,” Harry wrote about father King Charles III, mother Princess Diana, grandfather Prince Philip and grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry wrote that he felt like he was “the shadow, the support, the Plan B” and “brought into the world in case something happened to Willy.”
“I was summoned to provide backup, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part. Kidney, perhaps. Blood transfusion. Speck of bone marrow,” he wrote. “This was all made explicitly clear to me from the start of life’s journey and regularly reinforced after.”
The two brothers went through a series of ups and downs as they navigated life as members of the British royal family, with Harry writing that “as boys, [the siblings had] done nothing but fight.” The twosome even “had a million physical fights” throughout their lives, per the Duke of Sussex.
[jwplayer rd8YItd5-zhNYySv2]Harry wrote that William was there for him when he went through mental health struggles — sometimes. He recalled that William was the one to instruct him to get help when he initially started having panic attacks, but then mocked him after another incident. While they were bonded by the 1997 death of their mother, Diana, they didn’t always agree on how to handle matters within The Firm and things got tenser when Princess Kate (William’s wife) and Meghan Markle (Harry’s wife) didn’t always get along.
The Prince of Wales also allegedly believed Harry was moving too quickly with Meghan, whom he met in 2016. As viewers of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s CBS interview in 2021 and the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, which dropped in December 2022, may recall, the couple opted to step back from working for the royal family in early 2020 amid allegations of racism in the U.K. One year after Harry and Meghan, who share son Archie and daughter Lili, moved to America, their exit was made permanent.
As Harry has started to promote Spare, he’s been asked about his relationships with William and Charles. While he said in an upcoming ITV interview that he wants relationships with his brother and father, the palace has yet to comment on the various allegations in Spare and made in recent months.
Spare will be available on Tuesday, January 10. Scroll through for the biggest bombshells about William:
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Early Sibling Struggles
In addition to Harry’s struggles with being the “spare,” he alleged that William ignored him when they were students at Eton College as young boys, with his brother telling him: “You don’t know me Harold, and I don’t know you.”
When they started sharing a cottage together as young adults, William “griped endlessly about [Harry’s] habits” in a rare joint interview, claiming Harry was messy and snored.
“I was training to get to the front lines, the same place Willy had been training to get, but the Palace had scuttled his plans. The Spare, sure, let him run around a battlefield like a chicken with its head cut off, if that’s what he likes. But the Heir? No,” Harry wrote, alleging that his brother was likely frustrated about being forced to change his military plans.
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William’s Issues With Camilla
According to Harry, his brother “long harbored suspicions” about Camilla during his parent’s marriage.
“My mother legendarily said there were three people in her marriage. But her maths was off. She left Willy and me out of the equation. … We sensed the presence of the Other Woman, because we suffered the downstream effects,” he wrote.
While the brothers urged their father not to wed Camilla, they ultimately “wished him well” and understood that their sorrow over Diana was “besides the point.”
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William and Harry Drove Through the Tunnel Where Diana Died
After asking a driver to take him through the tunnel where his mother died — at the same speed — Harry recalled telling William about his night. He subsequently claimed that his brother told him “he’d driven the tunnel too” and the two siblings opted to do another drive together. Their outing prompted them to talk about their mother’s car crash “for the first time ever” and raised “more questions than it answered” about Diana’s passing.
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Harry Struggles at Will and Kate’s Wedding
Harry admitted that he was surprised to learn William was getting married because “all that time together in Lesotho” in June 2010 “he’d never mentioned it” to him.
While Harry wrote mostly favorable things about Kate — before her drama with Meghan — the Duke of Sussex struggled when his brother got married in April 2011. Harry felt like “Willy” was “gone forever” as he took on new roles.
“And I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they’d pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye,” he wrote.
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William’s Initial Feelings About Meghan
According to Harry, William and Kate were both “religious viewers of Suits” and were shocked when he started dating the actress in 2016. Despite his love for the USA show, William reportedly told his brother not to get his hopes up that William, Harry, Kate and Meghan would “become a foursome” because “she’s an American actress after all.” When William and Meghan did meet for the first time, things were awkward when she went in for a hug — and the Duke of Cambridge “recoiled” because “Willy didn’t hug many strangers.”
As Harry and Meghan got more serious, he confided in his brother about her issues with the British media. While initially telling him not to worry because “no one believes that s—t,” William told Harry that he felt like their mother was there guiding them with their respective struggles with The Firm. When Harry pulled Meghan into the equation, however, William allegedly got defensive.
“I feel as though she helped me find Meg,” Harry wrote. “Willy took a step back. He looked concerned. That seemed to be taking things a bit far. Well, now, Harold, I’m not sure about that. I wouldn’t say THAT!”
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William’s Issues Leading Up to Meghan and Harry’s Wedding
According to Harry, William told him he was moving “too fast” and warned him not to propose to Meghan. William also allegedly didn’t want Harry and Meghan to wed at Westminster Abbey because that’s where the Prince and Princess of Wales tied the knot in 2011. He also shut down St. Pauls because it’s “too grand” and where Charles and Diana wed. Closer to the wedding, William allegedly “became livid” when he learned Harry had asked Queen Elizabeth for permission to keep his beard for the nuptials.
“You put her in an uncomfortable position, Harold! She had no choice but to say yes. No choice? She’s the Queen! If she didn’t want me to have a beard I think she can speak for herself,” Harry wrote, alleging that William thought their grandmother went easy on the younger prince. “ At one point he actually ordered me, as the Heir speaking to the Spare, to shave.”
Harry further alleged that their argument continued for more than a week before William admitted that he was mad because he wasn’t allowed to keep his beard in the past.
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The June 2018 Showdown
Tension between William, Kate, Harry and Meghan was at an all-time high during summer 2018. According to Harry, the Cambridges were “upset” that the Sussexes didn’t give them Easter presents — something he and William apparently never did. As the two couples argued over seating arrangements at various weddings and other “airing of grievances,” Kate allegedly told Meghan that she wanted an apology for saying she had “baby brain” when the princess was pregnant with son Louis. After Kate made it clear she was upset that Meghan “talked about her hormones,” William allegedly “pointed” at Meghan and told her she was rude.
“It’s not what’s done here in Britain,” William allegedly said as she asked him to “kindly take your finger out of my face.”
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Harry and William’s Physical Fight
Harry recalled things turning physical between the siblings in 2019 after William called Meghan “difficult” and “rude.” According to the author, Harry’s shirt was ripped and his necklace was broken after the heated exchange, which allegedly included the older prince knocking his brother to the floor. Harry added that William told him not to tell Meghan about the incident, which left Harry with “scrapes and bruises.” Harry confided in his therapist instead.
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Issues With Charles and Camilla’s Comms Team
Harry recalled William “seething” when he discovered a member of Charles and Camilla’s comms team had given a negative story about him, Kate and their kids in April 2019. Harry was “glad” his brother turned to him as they’d been estranged, but things took another turn when Harry “tried to connect what Pa and Camilla had done to him with what the press had done to Meg.”
Harry claimed William “snapped” and “shifted all his rage onto [him].”
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The Fight Over Meghan and Harry’s Exit
Harry previously claimed in Harry & Meghan that William was angry when he met with his brother and father to discuss the Sussexes’ exit in January 2020. In Spare, Harry wrote that William looked like he was going to “murder” him but was more concerned with a story about William bullying Harry and Meghan making the rounds. Harry also claimed William and Charles both claimed “total ignorance of the reasons” why he and Meghan left the U.K.
“I looked up at the trees: ‘You don’t know!’” Harry wrote, claiming William responded, “‘Harold … I honestly don’t.’ I turned to Pa. He was gazing at me with an expression that said: Neither do I.”
While the brothers “agree[d] to keep talking” after the meeting, Harry wasn’t happy when William allegedly signed off on a joint statement from the siblings denying the bullying story.
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Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II’s Funerals
Harry wrote that William called him out for his and Meghan’s CBS tell-all at Frogmore Gardens after Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021 but swore on Diana’s life that he wanted Harry and Meghan to be happy.
“He’d gone there. He’d used the secret code, the universal password. Ever since we were boys those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis. On Mummy’s life,” Harry wrote, adding that he didn’t believe or “fully trust” William. “He saw that we were in a place of such hurt and doubt that even those sacred words couldn’t set us free.”
When they came together for the queen’s funeral in September 2022, they “barely” spoke.