Prince Harry offered unflinching descriptions of the royals in Spare, including some on King Charles III. Ahead, how the Duke of Sussex described his father, or “Pa,” in five heartbreaking passages.
1. King Charles ‘Spare’ descriptions: Telling Prince Harry his mother died
Early on in Spare, Harry recalled how King Charles broke the news of Princess Diana’s death. He described his father, or “Pa,” telling him the news without a hug.
“He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis?” Harry said (via Spare). “But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said: ‘It’s going to be OK.’”
The five words, coupled with hand on the knee, “was quite a lot for” King Charles, Harry explained. “Fatherly, hopeful, kind. And so very untrue.”
2. King Charles ‘Spare’ descriptions: ‘Never made for’ single parenthood
Harry went on to say his father didn’t seem “quite ready for parenthood,” let alone single parenthood.
“He’d always given an air of being not quite ready for parenthood—the responsibilities, the patience, the time,” Harry said of King Charles. “Even he, though a proud man, would’ve admitted as much. But single parenthood? Pa was never made for that.”
“To be fair,” Harry admitted, his father “tried.” King Charles, he recalled, would go upstairs to say good night to Harry. And he “never forgot” Harry “didn’t like the dark.” To combat his youngest son’s fear he’d “gently tickle” Harry’s face until he fell asleep.
“I have the fondest memories of his hands on my cheeks, my forehead, then waking to find him gone, magically, the door always considerately left open a crack,” Harry said.
3. King Charles ‘Spare’ descriptions: Stopped playing ‘wonderful games’ with Prince William and Prince Harry
Thinking back to his childhood, Harry recalled King Charles playing “wonderful games” with him and Prince William. However, he noted, they were over too soon.
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One had the king wrapping his sons up in blankets “like hot dogs.” When Harry and William “screamed with helpless laughter,” the now 74-year-old pulled the “blanket and shot us out of the other end.”
“I don’t know if Willy or I have ever laughed harder,” Harry said of the game. “But, long before we were ready, he [King Charles] stopped engaging in that kind of physical fun.”
4. King Charles ‘Spare’ descriptions: The king preferred letters to calls while Prince Harry served in Afghanistan
The heartbreaking Spare descriptions of King Charles as a father continued with Harry serving in Afghanistan. He shared how he’d contact his then-girlfriend, Chelsea “Chels” Davy, or King Charles. However, his father, he claimed, didn’t like getting phone calls.
“To think of home was never easy, for a complex set of reasons. To hear home was a stab in the chest,” Harry said. “If I didn’t call Chels, I called Pa. ‘How are you, darling boy?’”
“But he asked me to write rather than call,” Harry added, saying the king “loved” his written correspondence so much that “he’d much prefer a letter.”
5. King Charles ‘Spare’ descriptions: ‘Trouble being intimate face-to-face’
Elsewhere in Spare, Harry described how, in his opinion, his father “had trouble” opening up emotionally. “He had trouble communicating, trouble listening, trouble being intimate face-to-face,” Harry said.
The 38-year-old continued, sharing that King Charles sometimes opted to put kind comments in a note rather than tell Harry in person.
“On occasion, after a long multi-course dinner, I’d walk upstairs and find a letter on my pillow,” Harry recalled. “The letter would say how proud he was of me for something I’d done or accomplished. I’d smile, place it under my pillow, but also wonder why he hadn’t said this moments ago, while seated directly across from me.”
Spare, which is now a record-breaker, dropped in January 2023. In the wake of its release, the royal family’s stayed silent, not publicly commenting on any of Harry’s claims.
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