Prince Harry Ditched Parts From Memoir to ‘Spare Family’, Afraid They Would 'Never Forgive' Him

The Duke of Sussex's controversial 410-page memoir, Spare, hit bookshelves on January 10, reverberating with criticism of the royal family and the British tabloids, and echoing the self-pitying claims made by him and his wife, Meghan Markle in their previous Netlix documentary.

Prince Harry apparently has a lot more "dirt" he could dish about his fractuous relationship with members of the royal family, but he is afraid they would "never forgive" him.

The first draft of his memoir was much longer than the final one, said the Duke of Sussex, as he sat down for an interview with UK media after the release of Spare on January 10. He admitted that some details had been edited out, particularly those shedding light on his relationship with his father, King Charles III, and his brother, Prince William, now Prince of Wales.

“The first draft was different. It was 800 pages, and now it’s down to 400 pages. It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out,” Prince Harry was cited as saying.

He added:

“There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know. Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me.”

According to the fifth in the line of succession to the British throne, the media had “a s*** tonne of dirt about my family, I know they have, and they sweep it under the carpet for juicy stories about someone else”.

The royal admitted that while he was perfectly aware that he would “get trashed” for revealing details about the inner goings on within the palace, there was no other way to “tell his story.”

At one point in the interview Prince Harry urged the royal family to apologise to Meghan Markle, saying:

“Because you know what you did, and I now know why you did it. And you’ve been caught out, so just come clean and then we could all move on.”

He also vowed to be “truthful” and continue “the good fight” in standing up for his wife, as he believed he should "lead by example."

Considering the stir already generated by Spare and the Netflix “Harry & Meghan” documentary that dropped in early December, Buckingham Palace would likely take a dim view of yet another autobiographical “purging” offered up by the 38-year-old wayward Prince.

The memoir Spare bares all on Prince Harry’s life in the shadow of his elder brother, Prince William, unabashedly criticizes the royal family and UK tabloids.

It comes in the wake of a long succession of "truth bombs" and scandalous accusations lobbed by Prince Harry and his wife, former US actress Meghan Markle. After getting married in 2018, the duo opted to ditch official royal duties and left the UK in 2020. In March 2021, the couple gave a scandalous interview to Oprah Winfrey, in which they blamed their royal relatives of everything ranging from indifference to racism. Its hardly surprising that the couple's relationship with the royal family has remained strained ever since.

A member of staff places the copies of the new book by Prince Harry called "Spare" at a book store in London, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.

© AP Photo / Kin Cheung