According to the Guardian story on Thursday, the relationship between the brothers unraveled over Meghan, with Harry accusing William of siding with the British tabloids and their negative “narrative” about his new wife, which the couple says is fueled in part by racism.
During their fight, Harry writes, his older brother “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor.”
William was “piping hot,” according to the memoir.
The altercation took place Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace grounds in 2019, according to the Guardian’s story. Harry and Meghan were married at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
“After William complained about Meghan, Harry writes, Harry told him he was repeating the press narrative and that he expected better. But William, Harry says, was not being rational, leading to the two men shouting over each other,” the Guardian reported. “Harry writes that he gave his brother a glass of water and said: ‘Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.’”
He writes: “He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
The memoir is titled “Spare,” which comes from the phrase that royal and aristocratic marriages should produce “an heir and a spare,” so that the lineage can continue through the heir, but just in case, there’s a spare to carry on the name.
According to the Guardian, the idea that he is forever the spare is the theme of the book, which deals with the prince’s childhood, the death of his mother, Princess Diana, his schooling, service in the military and his marriage to Meghan.
The British media leaped on the Guardian scoop on Thursday, relating the new details online and in broadcasts, including the BBC.
While many families may quarrel over new additions, these revelations are about the royal family, the new King Charles III and Prince William, heir to the throne.
In his memoir, Harry writes of the brothers’ brief reunion at the funeral of their grandfather, Prince Philip, in April 2021, while their father the future king, begged them, “Please, boys … Don’t make my final years a misery,” according to the Guardian.
It may all feel a little sordid and intrusive, but it sells. Preorders of the book on Amazon have already boosted it to the No. 2 bestseller.
The British public and commentators will often say they are sick and tired of Harry and Meghan, then gobble up the next chapter of their story.
Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey and their six hours of self-produced documentary, “Harry & Meghan,” on Netflix were all intensively, obsessively consumed here.
Britons generally appear to be less sympathetic to Harry and Meghan, with many seeing them as royal whiners who abandoned their roles — and their country. Others feel sympathy for the couple, and back their charges that British society, the tabloids and the royal family are biased and racist.
Last month, the popular tabloid columnist and broadcaster, Jeremy Clarkson made news himself when he said he hated Markle and imagined her being stripped naked and paraded through the towns of England while the people threw excrement at her.
Harry and Meghan moved to southern California in 2020 to live lives independent of the royal family, they say, while essentially living off their narrative of rejection by said family.
It’s all a bit complicated.
This Sunday, Harry will appear in double-barrel interviews, separately on CBS in the United States, and ITV in Britain, dishing out some additional content to promote the sale of his memoir, due on Tuesday.
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