Since his youth, Prince Harry has been recognized for his misconduct. Excessive drinking, drug use, bad company, run-ins with the paparazzi, to the point that he was nicknamed “l’enfant terrible”. As an adult, nothing worked out for the Duke of Sussex, who is now a band in his own right. In his autobiography, The Substitute, we discover a very different aspect of the character. That of a wounded man, a wounded duke, a vulnerable prince.
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The magnificent pen of journalist and novelist JR Moehringer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2000, which lends a wonderful touch of compassion to Prince Harry’s touching words, manages to immerse the reader in a surreal universe.
We imagine ourselves in magnificent palaces, fairy tales, but attached to this dream life is the icy coldness of a world so rigid that we wonder if they are robotic people or heartless people.
The story of the deputy is so touching that not only are we willing to forgive him for all his clumsiness and stupidity, but we want to love him, comfort him and take him in our arms to tell him it’s not serious.
Diana’s death
From the very beginning, from the opening pages of the book, we understand his relatives’ indifference towards him as he goes to the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in Frogmore Gardens, next to Windsor Castle. For Harry, every funeral is painful as it reminds him of the death of his mother, Princess Diana, whom he loved so much, and how much she loved him. Today, at 38, he still loves her just as much. He also feels guilty that he didn’t cry during his death while watching thousands of strangers in the streets mourning the loss of his mother, the princess of the people. A departure that made him suffer so much at the age of just 12. In fact, he believed that his mother would come back, that she was hiding somewhere, and that she would come back. The young prince could not accept the death of his mother, impossible to believe in the inevitable. The moving funeral, which was televised to 2.5 billion viewers, was just a grand staging for him. Diana would reappear one day.
In her book we see that she still holds a very important place in Harry’s heart that still talks to her as if she is there on a cloud watching him. His mother’s love is in his eyes a light as strong as the Milky Way. “I wonder what my mother would say to all of this,” he asks in his book.
It has to be said that the horrific photos of the accident in the Alma tunnel had remained hidden from him for years.
Then when he gets it, he’ll hate the paparazzi and the media. Throughout the book we’ll feel this hatred he harbors for them, especially the British tabloids. Even today, they are responsible for all his misfortunes.
The spare wheel
The alternative, the spear in its original version, alludes to its rank, it’s a bit like the spare tire or lifeline.
The expression appeared while still a child overhearing a conversation between his father and mother. Charles said to Diana: “…you gave me a successor, that is very good and a spear…”. It is difficult to grow up with good self-esteem in such conditions. Same parents, same life as his brother, but one will be the future king, the great hero with all honors, while the other was there just in case something bad should happen to the patron in question.
During his childhood, although Harry was a prince, like many other children, he grew up thanks in large part to his mother, the Princess of Wales. Like many families, there were a few differences between Harry and William, nothing more.
Then there were tragedies. Her parents’ high-profile divorce, and then Diana’s tragic death. There are also rumors that her father may not have been Prince Charles, but her mother’s lover.
In his adolescence, as he became more aware of his rank, then third in line to the throne, while all eyes were on his brother, handsomer, more gifted in school and, above all, more important to the monarchy, he began to do foolish things. A way to attract attention.
Things got worse after his brother William married Kate Middleton and had children. Three. His succession to the throne had become almost impossible.
The nonsense multiplied, the drugs, the pictures of him naked with girls in Vegas, the Nazi costume on Halloween. We also learn that this costume was his brother William’s idea and that even Kate laughed heartily. However, it was he who was heavily criticized in public and today bitterly regrets all his nonsense.
Meghan’s arrival
The melodrama took a turn for the worse when he introduced Meghan Markle to the royal family and confessed his intentions of marrying her. Even her brother William objected because she was divorced, she was an actress, she’s American and she’s mixed race. Two years after his marriage, he will retire from the monarchy to live in California.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, admits he loves his older brother William and seems to regret not having contact with either him or his father.
If he wanted reconciliation, why add fuel to the fire with this book? The various interviews previously granted to the media, in which numerous allegations were leveled against the royal family, had already strained relations. Ultimately, it’s legitimate to question Prince Harry’s true intentions by lifting the veil on family histories that aren’t exactly nice to hear.
By saying his brother attacked him or that he opposed his father’s marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles, “the ugly one” wonders if he wants to kill the monarchy?
I doubt. Harry often fails, but he’s not mean. The gossip will say that it is about revenge, about making money or about the idea of wanting to restore one’s image. A way to assert yourself, to play the victim, even if it’s awkward.
I would say that the prince suffered a lot and unfortunately still suffers. It’s sad but it’s the reality.
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Prince Harry
The deputy
expenses Fayard
544 pages