Spare

Spare begins with a William Faulkner epigraph: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past” (vi). The quotation suggests that no one can be free of their history because the past shapes individuals and lives on in their memories. Faulkner’s words are pertinent to the memoir in several ways. Prince Harry’s narrative demonstrates that he’s shaped by one traumatic event: the death of his mother. In addition, his life is inescapably defined by the history of his royal ancestors.

The Prologue, set in 2022, establishes the context of Spare. Harry’s unsuccessful attempt to explain his motivations to his family provides the raison d’être for the memoir. The narrative demonstrates why Harry and his wife left Britain “in fear for [their] sanity and physical safety” (1).

Frogmore Gardens, the royal burial grounds, is a symbolically appropriate setting. The three princes argue, surrounded by their dead royal ancestors and with their “feet almost on top of Wallis Simpson’s face” (5). The references to King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in this section are the first of several, drawing parallels between Harry and his “great-great-uncle,” who gave up his royal status for love (1). Meanwhile, the Gothic ruin in the background, which is “no more Gothic than the Millennium Wheel” (1), symbolizes the pomp and artifice surrounding the royal family.

Emphasizing Harry’s sense of isolation, the Prologue notes that he stands alone, but Prince Charles and Prince William are “[s]houlder to shoulder” and look “tightly aligned” (4). While Harry affectionately calls his brother “Willy,” Prince Charles and Prince William formally address him as “Harold.” This conveys the sense of a rift that Harry’s relatives are unprepared to breach.

Part 1 begins with the most formative event of Harry’s childhood: the death of his mother. Its subtitle, “Out of the Night That Covers Me,” derives from William Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus.” Meaning “unconquered” in Latin, “Invictus” celebrates the human ability to overcome hopelessness and adversity. Prince Harry’s references to Henley’s poem here and throughout the memoir suggest that he views his life trajectory as a journey from darkness to light.

In the early chapters, Harry conveys how royal protocol stunts his ability to grieve for his mother. Following Princess Diana’s death, the royals stick rigidly to their routines, illustrating one of the memoir’s main themes: The Monarchy as an Institution and Machine. The young princes, unable to cry, are placed in the ironic position of consoling tearful strangers over their mother’s death. Prince Harry describes the experience as “offering ourselves up to the crowds” (22), evoking an image of human sacrifice. The Palace’s decision that the two brothers should walk behind their mother’s coffin to Westminster Abbey is another example of protocol taking precedence over human emotion. Harry feels “numb,” and this emotional repression haunts him into adulthood. His lack of opportunity to grieve openly at this stage results in a refusal to accept that his mother is dead.

Another of the memoir’s main themes—The Consequences of Press Harassment and Misinformation—emerges in these chapters through the first intrusion of the press in Harry’s life, fueling his ongoing hatred of journalists and paparazzi. Often in his memoir, he uses warfare vocabulary to describe the paparazzi’s behavior. For example, when Harry reaches for Prince Charles’s hand in a moment of vulnerability during the funeral proceedings, he causes “an explosion of clicks” from surrounding photographers (20). The description of the photographers as “[t]hey fired and fired and fired” evokes images of a firing squad (20). Harry’s figurative comparison of the press to ruthless killers is largely a result of his knowledge that the paparazzi were chasing his mother when she died.

Royal Family Dynamics and Conflict arises as a third major theme in this section through the “Heir” and “Spare” dynamic between Prince William and Prince Harry (to which the memoir’s title alludes). Prince Harry’s depiction of himself as “the shadow, the support, the Plan B” (14) exceeds straightforward sibling rivalry. As the younger prince, his status in the royal family is unquestionably inferior to that of Prince William. Harry’s disinterest in history at school stems from his resentment toward this hierarchy: “[T]he Spare could always be spared. I knew this, knew my place, so why go out of my way to study it?” (35)

Harry’s description of his school days illustrates an ongoing character trait: the desire to fit in and lead a “normal” life. At Eton, he wants to be perceived as “a top bloke. A funny bloke” (45) and doesn’t want his royal status highlighted. His years at Eton also mark a change in the press’s attitude toward him. He realizes that the “unspoken agreement” (of the press giving the princes respectful distance since their mother’s death) is over, and he’s now a target for their exploitation. He conveys the damage to his emerging sense of self as he’s labeled “Prince Thicko,” and he highlights the hurtful nature of misinformation as the press suggests his mother’s former lover, Major James Hewitt, is his biological father.

The complex relationship between Harry and his father emerges as he depicts Prince Charles as alternately loving and distant. Harry pinpoints his father’s love of Shakespeare and his own inability to engage with the Bard to illustrate their contrasting temperaments. Harry’s preference for John Steinbeck, who “wrote in plain, simple vernacular [and] kept it tight” (49), reflects the style of his own memoir. Spare eschews verbosity in favor of short, sharp sentences and chapters.

In discussing the fragile nature of memory, Harry acknowledges that memoirs can’t be a straightforward account of facts. He notes the impossibility of accurately recalling conversations from years earlier, stating, “Dialogue? I’ll try my best, but make no verbatim claims” (13). Many of Harry’s memories of his early life are, in reality, gleaned from what others have told him. He recognizes his reconstruction of events as subjective, declaring, “Whatever the cause, my memory is my memory, it does what it does, gathers and curates as it sees fit” (13).