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Like thousands of others I was interested to read Prince Harry’s memoir to see how much it differed from the ‘truth‘ told in newspapers and on various social media sites.
Harry’s childhood was cut short at age 12 by the death of his mother Princess Diana, seemingly the only person in his life who up to then had showed him any love and warmth. From what I’ve read the rest of the royal family are cold-blooded and undemonstrative, and although the love is there they are unable to show it. Diana’s death left a gaping hole in his life, and he eventually needed therapy in order to be able to deal with constant depression, panic attacks, and to be able to grieve and come to terms with the loss of Diana’s physical presence (for years he told himself that she was not dead and that she would eventually return).
The depression he suffered in his teens and twenties due to his mother’s death and also to constant paparazzi intrusion (he called it being ‘papped’) caused rather un-royal behaviour, which labelled him as the ‘naughty’ one. After he met Meghan the paparazzi never left him alone for one minute. They put trackers on their cars, peeped through windows, harassed Meghan’s family and friends for any snippets of information, and caused Harry and Meghan to have to live cloistered behind drawn shutters, frightened to go outside. Drones and helicopters continually circled overhead, and paparazzi arrived by the boatload if they ever went on holiday. This media circus caused jealousy with senior members of the royal family as the limelight was taken away from them, and also more feelings of panic and despair for Harry as his wife failed to cope with being constantly harassed by the press, eventually wanting to end her life. I must say that by the end of the book I hated the paparazzi as well; they grew rich on thousands of pounds given to them by editors, who then published lies and trash in order to sell more newspapers (by the way, I haven’t read a newspaper for years).
I’d say that for all his wealth and privilege, Harry’s teens and twenties were not happy. He could only find freedom from the paparazzi in the Army, and even then had to be pulled from the frontline duty that he loved because of then being third in line to the throne. It’s only in his thirties that he eventually found love and happiness with Meghan, but even then this has been spoiled again by the paparazzi and by Meghan receiving death threats. They had to eventually forego royal duties, become financially independent from King Charles, and move to gated and secure accommodation in the USA in order to gain some peace and tranquility for themselves and their children.
I enjoyed reading this warts-and-all memoir, but I’m glad I get to live my life in complete anonymity!
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dgkaye said:
Ahem. Wasn’t it you who said you wouldn’t pay that much for a book? Here it’s $48 CAD! No thanks. But great review. ❤
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Stevie Turner said:
For a Kindle not a hardback. I had no choice but to buy a hardback. That’s all there was.
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dgkaye said:
The hardback is outrageous here. Curious, how much in UK?
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Stevie Turner said:
I pre-ordered it for £14, but… blow me down with a feather… my son has been sent a free PDF (which he didn’t ask for) of it. Weird. Not sure how that’s happened. x
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dgkaye said:
Wow on both counts! And your 14 Pounds would be equivalent to $24 CAD, yet Amazon is charge $47. Bizarro. I can wait. 🙂 xx
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Phil Huston said:
He understood from his mother, as did William, what the gig was. This seems to be a pattern of behavior in the not the chosen one royal sibling. Can we all say Princess Margaret? They don’t have the job, or the purpose. All they can do is bitch and act out and blame. I’m not sure exactly how his mother would take his inability to do anything except whine and cash checks. She managed, though miserable, to do good works, party and talk occasional royal smack with some backbone which Harry must have thought they said pity prone and asked for a double.
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johnrieber said:
This memoir has certainly been polarizing – even by those who haven’t read it…not sure his media tour has helped at all, but your point about having a live a life in a very harsh spotlight with what seems to be very little support has clearly led to this…great review!
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks John. I do have some sympathy for the pair of them. A sheer accident of birth, and he has to grow up in a fish bowl.
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johnrieber said:
Stevie, I was lucky enough to produce a TV show with his uncle, Prince Edward….I spent a lot of time with him, including meetings in Buckingham Palace just down the hall from his Mom’s office…he was the youngest child and the stories of how you learn to live in that spotlight were fascinating…
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Stevie Turner said:
Wow, I have been to Buckingham Palace, but only as a tourist when the state rooms were open. I’ve always wondered exactly just what Prince Edward does do with himself all day.
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johnrieber said:
Well, he made TV for awhile until hi Mom made him stop! I have a story I am going to share one day that is a bit of an “eye opener” to be sure
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Stevie Turner said:
He always seems the forgotten one. The paps never target him.
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Darlene said:
A good review of the book, thanks.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks Darlene.
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beetleypete said:
Glad to hear you enjoyed reading the book, Stevie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes said:
Harry has my sympathy, that is no way to be forced to live…
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Stevie Turner said:
Indeed.
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OIKOS™- Art, Books & more said:
Thank you for the review to this very interesting book, Stevie! I’m sure the queen wanted to read it too.Yesterday I had already experienced some things from the content on Ritu’s blog.We’re all human. Best wishes, Michael
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Stevie Turner said:
Indeed. Anyone would crack under the amount of press intrusion he’s had.
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OIKOS™- Art, Books & more said:
Reblogged this on https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for the re-blog, Michael. Happy Tuesday!
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