There’s a Game of Thrones quote that anyone who’s close to me has had the misfortune of hearing every few months since 2019.
In season 8, Tyrion Lannister says to his brother Jaime: “I made a mistake common of clever people — I underestimated my opponents.” Those words played in my head when I listened to Prince Harry’s conversation with ITV’s Tom Bradby recently, in one of his many tell-all interviews on the publicity tour for his newly released autobiography, Spare.
When Harry awkwardly detailed an alleged physical attack by his brother William, I thought: “Why is he telling us this?” He’s been the target of relentless mudslinging in the British tabloids since 2020, when he and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior members of the royal family.
For four or so years before that, it was only Meghan who had been the target, blamed for everything from making women with fertility issues feel ashamed by cradling her pregnant tummy, to fuelling genocide because she eats avocados. (I wish I was making that up.) But when Harry did what people — including the delusional women who thought they or their daughters deserved him more than Meghan — didn’t expect, and left the UK and the royal family, he became fair game.
As US late night talk show host Stephen Colbert (the only one worth watching) said when Harry stopped by a few days ago: “It’s almost bizarre how vicious [the British press] can be.”
Since leaving, Harry and Meghan have been on a talking spree. It started with that Oprah Winfrey interview. And after a period of silence, we’ve had 60 Minutes and Anderson Cooper, ITV, the six-part Netflix docuseries, Meghan’s pretty-darn-good podcast, the couple’s leadership documentary series and, now, Spare. Phew.
It makes sense why they’re so keen to own the narrative: Harry probably doesn’t want to go down such as his Nazi sympathiser great-great uncle, whose legacy is as a fabulously dressed forever sad boy who spent his remaining days regretting leaving the royal life. If Harry is up against the monstrous PR machine he says he is, why would he do less when he can do more?
Was he supposed to release a 20-minute YouTube documentary and call it a day? Yes, he and Meghan had appealed for privacy, but since that fell on deaf ears and the malicious stories continued, they did what any savvy person would do — try to beat the media (and the House of Windsor) at their own game. As he said to Colbert, they’d hoped for peace when they moved to California: “For 12 months during lockdown where we said literally nothing, it was relentless. That was the real eye-opener for me.”
How this pans out remains to be seen. But if they go down, they’ll go down swinging. They are not underestimating their opponent as they did in the beginning of their relationship. Online conversation has been interesting. It’s gone from “I can’t wait to watch them light up the royal family’s a*ses” to “it’s too much now”.
But “too much” for whom? Who gets to decide when someone with a lifetime of hurt — and their partner who has been bullied on such a scale — has spoken out “enough” against their aggressors? Why do we think we get to tell others how to enjoy their freedom?
Part of what makes some of this PR awkward is that we’re watching someone discover themselves — and the world around them — in real time. Harry has finally learnt about racism, while Meghan — for the first time — knows what it’s like to be a black person. Some of it comes across as a bit boohoo and cringey, but that’s because they’re human — which is something we don’t like our celebrities to be.
Instead of being as frivolously entertaining as the Keeping Up with the Kardashians (KUWTK) episode in which Kim wept because she lost a diamond earring in the ocean, or as self-deprecating as Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie playing dramatised versions of themselves on The Simple Life, it’s uncomfortable because it’s too real. The Sussex Content Machine lacks the entertainment value of KUWTK and the humour of The Simple Life.
Celebrities must still perform — being vulnerable and human introduces rust to that shiny veneer. Sorry, that’s the not the show we want to binge. I haven’t yet read Spare and have avoided the excerpts, headlines or discourse because the only way to judge a book is by reading it.
While some have had enough, it’s obvious the Sussexes have more in store. I can’t wait for Meghan’s book. I’m excited to have it on my bookshelf alongside the autobiographies of Michelle Obama, Viola Davis, Dave Grohl and, soon, Prince Harry as books I planned to read but didn't. I’m sure that spine will look beautiful, though.
