On Spare

To be clear from the very beginning: as a historian relatively versed in contemporary history, I deeply understand the individual role played by monarchies from different countries in the local and European history. However, as a modern liberal human being, with a weird sense of humour, I don´t have any bit of understanding of the reason of maintaning expensive monarchies and their heirs. Why support large, noisy and sometimes fully dysfunctional ´royal´ families, only for the sake of old times legends assuming their ´holy´, God-anoited ´humble´ beginnings on Earth. A completely meaningless institution for our times, if you want my opinion.

Spare by Prince Harry is a tragi-comical memoir of coming to age in the House of Windsor. Not directly in line for the throne, a ´spare´, Harry recently separated from his London royals, nevertheless a prince although refugiated in the republican USA with his wife and their 2 children, published a book that received mixed reactions. I was simply curious to read a book many people I know were talking about therefore, I spent some hours the last week listening to it.

I´ve had access to the book in the audio format, read by the author, which is a different experience, as the voice is a smart addition to the text. If you are a fan of British accent the audiobook is a pleasure for the ears.

Some of the anecdotal stories were already largely distributed by the tabloids from all over the world and are so ridiculous that it´s not worth mentioning, even first hand. What interested me in the first place was Harry´s way of thinking. How can someone who is used to spend his ´people´ money without thinking about taking a proper job, for instance, sees life? 

It is not wrong to say that his stories are told by someone from the very priviledged top of the British society. Spare or not, he is benefiting of a network of allegiance and obligations that allowed him to be what he is now, even when he doesn´t want to belong any more. So full of himself that it took him some good amount of time and some meetings with the exceptional late Chief Rabbi Sacks - not named in the book - to realize that wearing a Nazi uniform is completely wrong - ´my brain have been shut off´, he explains in the book. The same ´innocence´ he displayed when he candidly declared that he didn´t know that ´Paki´ was a slur. Seriously, Harry?!

Calling paparazzi and by extension the media a ´chronic illness´, coming from a royal mouth or not, is again an example of lack of proper thinking before saying or doing anything. It´s understandable to accuse paparazzi for the death of his beloved mother, but he doesn´t look to read more than the yellow pages as he does not offer any counter-example that may offer different takes on everyday reality.

Rebelion may have its limits, especially after a certain age. By sharing so many anecdotical details of his life, he is reaching though to the same audience who is praised by the readers of boulevard newspapers. There is nothing noticeable in the book that may reach other audience than the one curious about the latest scandal at the Palace.  

The only beautiful part of the story is the love story between him and Megan Markle, for the candid desire of making things work and protecting her. 

Funny, ridiculous, cynical in its ignorance, Spare may tell a lot about royal habits nowadays, but also it is the story of a traumatised child who lost his mom, happy to go out of the ´fishbowl´, but lacking basic resources to really make it into the world on his own.

Rating: 2 stars