The Duke of Sussex has said the original transcript for his best-selling memoir Spare is twice the length of the published book - prompting reports there is sufficient material for a follow-up. However, although there could be a sequel, the surplus material from the first autobiography might not ever come to light, as he said he held back some disclosures for which the King and the Prince of Wales would not “ever forgive” him.
The Telegraph reports that "there’s enough for another book" and that Prince Harry "cut memoir in half to spare" his family. In an interview with the newspaper, Prince Harry said the original transcript for his book, Spare, was twice the length of the final draft.
And he said that a lot of the detail edited out concerned interactions with both his father and his brother. The revelation is likely to leave the Royal family concerned about possible future disclosures, with Buckingham Palace sources noting that he might be forced to write further books for financial gain.
Prince Harry told journalist Bryony Gordon of The Telegraph: “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. The hard bit was taking things out.”
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.”
He admitted he had struggled with some of the content following 50 Zoom calls with his ghost writer, aware that within his family writing a book was “an absolute no”. Prince Harry – who has accused Palace staff of lying to protect his brother Prince William – claimed that the media had "a ton of dirt about my family, I know they have, and they sweep it under the carpet for juicy stories about someone else”.
He said he knew he was “going to get trashed” for anything he included about his family, but insisted that it was impossible to tell his story without their inclusion. The Duke also said he felt a responsibility to reform the monarchy for the sake of his brother's children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Prince Harry said: “I know that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare,” he said. “And that hurts, it worries me.”
This apparently frustrated Prince William: “He has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility,” the Duke said. Regardless, he said was approaching his mission with “long-term, strategic thinking”.
“This is not about trying to collapse the monarchy – this is about trying to save them from themselves,” he claimed. “I know that I will get crucified by numerous people, saying that.”
The Duke said that the Royal family should apologise to Meghan, using the interview with Bryony Gordon to address them directly. “Because you know what you did, and I now know why you did it," he said. "And you’ve been caught out, so just come clean and then we could all move on.”
Comparing his family’s silence on the current situation to abuse, he added: “That’s the saddest part about it – it was all so avoidable. But they just couldn’t help themselves.”
Prince Harry went on to say he did not understand why it was considered so “shocking and outrageous” for him to tell his own “truthful” side of the story, but vowed he would continue “the good fight” in standing up for Meghan “and other women”, encouraging other men to do the same.
He suggested that though his family might dislike him at the moment, they would thank him in a few years for talking so openly about trauma.
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