Always second best? Prince Harry got real about his role as Prince William’s younger brother — and the highs of lows of royal life — in his memoir, Spare.
In the book, which comes out on Tuesday, January 10, Harry revealed that the memoir’s title stemmed from the thing he was labeled as the moment he was born. William would become king one day, after their father, King Charles III, while the former military pilot felt he was “the shadow, the support, the Plan B” in their family and in the country.
“I was summoned to provide backup, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part. Kidney, perhaps. Blood transfusion. Speck of bone marrow,” the royal wrote. “This was all made explicitly clear to me from the start of life’s journey and regularly reinforced after.”
While feeling less than his sibling was par for the course in Harry’s life, it spawned countless heated arguments to transpire between the two brothers growing up.
Harry detailed one particularly brutal physical fight with William in the book over his wife, Meghan Markle, and claimed that the Prince of Wales took issue with his appearance ahead of their marriage.
“I showed up to my stag ready to party. To laugh, to have a good time, to get clear of all this stress,” the BetterUp CIO wrote, referring to his bachelor party in 2018. “And yet I also feared that if I got too clear, got too drunk and passed out, Willy and his mates would hold me down and shave me.”
He alleged that his brother was not a fan of his beard pre-wedding, so he was ready to force it from his face. “In fact Willy told me, explicitly, in all seriousness, that this was his plan,” Harry continued. “So, while having fun, I was also at all times keeping my older brother in my sight.”
While his tension with William was a big part of the book, Harry also recalled his own personal highs and lows, including drug use and the way in which he lost his virginity.
Elsewhere in the memoir, the duke opened about his true feelings toward stepmother Queen Consort Camilla, who married his father in 2005. He also identified how his mother, Princess Diana, has remained a guiding light throughout his life.
Scroll down to see the biggest bombshells from Harry’s Spare memoir:
Spare hits bookshelves on Tuesday, January 10.
