In recent weeks, Prince Harry made a number of wild accusations against the royal family not only in his memoir Spare, but also in publicity interviews leading up to the book’s release. He appears to have pulled very few punches, accusing Prince William of attacking him; saying his brother and Kate Middleton played a role in his Nazi costume fiasco; and blaming her stepmother camel to “sacrifice” him to the media. Many, including the Duke of Sussex himself, have been waiting for the palace to respond to all the claims, but there has been no wave of denials and the royals seem to be sticking to their never complain, never explain mantra.
Ahead of Spare’s release, Prince Harry appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, saying “of course” the royal family will use the press to undermine what he has to say, telling the host:
38 years later, they told their side of the story. That’s the other side of the story, and there’s a lot about it that might make people uncomfortable and scared.
Despite the fact that headlines and comments about Prince Harry’s allegations continue to appear in British press, no statements have been received from his family to refute, deny or explain anything said by the Duke of Sussex. This may surprise some, given that Spare has proved popular around the world: 3.2 million copies were sold in its first week, and William and Kate’s popularity ratings have plummeted.
However, Katie Nicholl, Vanity Fair’s royal family correspondent, said (via Time) that “dignified silence” is typical of the royal family:
Dignified silence is a proven format. The palace doesn’t want to get involved on any level, because if they do, it only fuels the narrative, and Harry has made so many accusations that it’s almost impossible to answer every single one of them.
It seems that if the palace does decide to defend itself against Prince Harry’s many accusations, they may never be able to stop. Instead, family members seem to be actively working on their public image. A few days after Spare’s release, the Prince and Princess of Wales met medical and psychiatric staff at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and visited Open Door Charity, which helps young people through community action and mental health.
Meanwhile, King Charles III has announced his desire for profits from six new offshore wind farms on the Crown Estate to be redistributed to the “wider public good”, reports the BBC, rather than going to the Sovereign Grant, which funds the royal family’s official duties. .
We’ll have to see if the Palace decides to stay the course with ‘never complain, never explain’ PR strategy, or if any of Prince Harry’s statements will cause a backlash. Spare is available to buy in several formats and languages (many of which have different and violent titles), and you can also hear more from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their Harry and Meghan documentary series, available to stream at Netflix subscription. .
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