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Jan 9
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Has Prince Harry’s confessional tour run its course? Sarah Lyall, a New York Times writer at large and former London correspondent who has covered the ups and downs of Britain’s royal family since the mid-1990s, explored that very question in a recent critic’s notebook.
In their prolonged campaign to tell their story — and to present themselves as victims of the British royal family, the tabloid press and critics and haters everywhere — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have in the last two years revealed their secrets to Oprah Winfrey, revealed them again to various sympathetic television interviewers, produced and starred in a six-part Netflix series and, in the case of Harry, appeared on the actor Dax Shepard’s podcast, “Armchair Expert.”
Now comes the prince’s multimillion-dollar ghostwritten memoir, “Spare.” Set for release Tuesday, it has been leaking out over the last few days, one eye-popping detail after the next.
Harry and Meghan still have many sympathizers, particularly those who see the couple’s grievances through the lens of the racism Meghan encountered in Britain and who say that she — and Harry, once he married her — never stood a chance in such a stultified, reactionary institution as the monarchy.
But something has changed, judging from the response so far. Even in the United States, which has a soft spot for royals in exile and a generally higher tolerance than Britain does for redemptive stories about overcoming trauma and family dysfunction, there is a sense that there are only so many revelations the public can stomach.
Tap the link in our bio to read the full notebook.
(Image: Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” went on sale early in Spain, where it was snapped up and translated by alert members of the British media. 📸 Photo credit: Oscar Del Pozo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
nytbooks
Jan 9
4.4K
1.45%
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