The Tameside Radio presenter has just finished reading the Duke of Sussex's headline-grabbing autobiography. This is what he thinks of it...
Just over a week after its release, I've just completed Spare by Prince Harry. It's a book that's become the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998. As I travel around a fair bit, I opted for the audio book from Audible, which is read by the author.
I'm totally aware that a lot of our readers will already have made up their mind about this book without even reading a single chapter. I doubt many titles have been such literary marmite, but I took a decision weeks ago not to read any of the hysterical tabloid coverage, and make my own mind up.
Divided into three sections, the book first takes us through the horrific events of 1997, when Harry had to walk behind his mother's coffin before the eys of the world at the age of just twelve. Keeping his eyes firmly to the ground, he spent years believing that Princess Diana wasn't really gone at all. He believed she was hiding from the snapping lenses of the paparazzi, and would one day call a press conference urging her sons to join her. It was only years later during therapy sessions that he was able to properly cry and grieve for his mum.
We then hear about his military service in the Afghanistan war, and much has been said about the section where he admits killing 25 Taliban fighters. If you take the whole chapter in context, he absolutely doesn't boast about the killings, but nor does he regret them, in the context of the war. You could make a good case that the entire conflict was a huge mistake, but the blame for this doesn't sit solely on Harry's shoulders.
It feels to me like all those who loudly criticise Prince Harry have taken short sections of Spare, and used it to justify their position. Fact checkers have pointed out that he can't have received an X-Box in 1997, as the games console wasn't released in the UK until the early noughties. Really? Is that the best they can come up with? There's also been a tongue-in-cheek statement from TK Maxx, debunking Harry's claim that he liked to shop in their annual sale, stating they prefer to offer low prices all year round, and don't actually hold a sale event.
As for the third act, where we hear about Harry's first date with Meghan and the heartache of her cutting off contact with her dad following his leaking of photos to the press, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness that Harry's own family couldn't just be happy for him. From an almighty row about a wedding tiara to claims Meghan's flowers might have been dangerous for the Royal children, the level of vitriol she has faced from the press since day one is unprecedented. One of the most ridiculous headlines I've ever seen comes from the Daily Mail - "How Meghan's favourite avocado snack is fuelling human rights abuses, drought and murder". Really? Come on, you can do better than this, UK press.
Spare isn't without its faults. There is definitely too much information when it comes to Harry's frostbitten man parts, and some of the middle section on his military exploits didn't interest me a great deal, but overall I have been left feeling Harry absolutely did the right thing to relocate his family to America. Yes, he had a nice life hopping on a plane to the North and South Pole and African countries like the rest of us hop on a bus or train, but the level of scrutiny he's faced from a press that promised to change in 1997 is unjustifiable, in my mind. As for the racism, it is blatant, ugly, and disgusting.
I'm totally aware you might be reading this in disbelief, and think Harry is privileged, cosseted from reality, bitter and on a revenge mission against his family. I think he's spoken his truth, as he sees it, and hope doing so was cathartic for him. The Queen is respectfully and fondly spoken about in the epilogue, even as we learn Harry found out about her passing from a BBC News alert on his phone. I loved some of the little details about Harry and Meghan's early dates, and can't imagine what life must be like to be constantly chased by photographers hoping to provoke a reaction and make more money from the resulting pictures.
Whatever your Royal views, I'd defy you to read this full book and not feel for Harry on a purely human level. I hope he has found happiness and peace in America.
You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am and on the 'Super Scoreboard' show on Saturdays from 3pm to 7pm, on Tameside Radio 103.6FM.
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