PRINCE HARRY'S PRIMER : '' SPARE '' MEMOIR

 

London : Prince Harry left out revelations about his family in his memoir, saying he did not want ''the world to know because I don't think they would ever forgive me,'' according to an interview by the Daily Telegraph.

The prince told the UK  broadsheet that he has enough material to write another book, mostly focused on his relationship with brother Prince William and father King Charles III, in comments likely to further unsettle the royal family.

''The first draft was different. It was 800 pages, and now it's down to 400 pages,'' he said of his book Spare. ''It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out. 

''There are some things that have happened, especially me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don't want the world to know. Because I don't think they would ever forgive me,'' he added.

The rogue prince said the media had a ''tonne of dirt about my family'' but that  they ''sweep it under the carpet for juicy stories about someone else''.

After months of anticipation and a blanket publicity blitz, Harry's book Space went on sale one recent Tuesday as royal insiders hit back at his scorching revelations. The royal family has maintained a studied silence as painful details from the book and a round of pre-publication TV interviews have piled up.

But among the many contradictions in the book, Harry also characterises the king as a doting father, who favors strong French aftershave and conducts headstands in his underwear to alleviate polo-induced back pain.

In his Telegraph interview, Harry said he was airing his grievances in public not to ''collapse'' the royal family but because he had a ''responsibility'' to reform it in order to protect Prince William's children.

William, he said ''has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility.''

The book comes on the back of the six-hour Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. A YouGov poll on Monday found that 64% of Britons now have a negative view of the once-popular prince - his lowest ever rating - and that Meghan also scores dismally.

They may also be straining public interest in Meghan's homeland, according to The New York Times.

''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,'' its former London correspondent Sarah Lyall wrote.

More about 'Spare'

Spare officially went on sale on January 10 as bookstores in  London opened at midnight to meet high customer demand, London media had reported.

The  name of the book comes from a traditional usage among royal families as the first son is the heir and the second is a ''spare'' in case anything happens to the first-born.

In his book, Harry levelled serious accusations against his royal family, including claims of a physical attack by his elder brother Prince Williams, as he elaborated how their relationship suffered over Harry's marriage to US actor Meghan Markle.

William ''set down the water, called me another name, then came at me,'' wrote Harry. '' It all happened so fast. So very fast.'' The younger brother continued :

''He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog's bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me.

I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.'' Harry also said William urged him to hit back, like the fights they had as children, but he refused.

British readers had received their copies of the autobiography days before its global release. The famous bookshop  Waterstones  reportedly said Harry's book has been one of its ''biggest pre-order titles for a decade.''

On a US television last year, the couple complained of racism toward Markle in the Buckingham Palace. They alleged that at least one senior family member questioned the skin colour of the couple's then-unborn baby Archie and that Meghan faced huge emotional pressure in the palace. [AFP]