Prince Harry Isn’t the Only Prince to Write a Memoir After Leaving the Royal Family
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals and completed their royal duties in 2020. Since moving to America the duke and duchess have inked several lucrative deals worth millions. These include one with Netflix as well as Spotify to produce content and one with Penguin Random House for Prince Harry‘s memoir.
When it was announced that the Duke of Sussex was releasing a book, many eyebrows were raised and some wondered what more the prince who spent his whole life inside The Firm was going to reveal about Britain’s famous family. The royals though have seen this movie before as Harry isn’t the first duke to write about the Windsors after leaving the family. Here’s who else did the same thing.
What Prince Harry has said about his upcoming memoir
After Penguin Random House announced that the prince would be releasing his memoir in 2022 and described it as “intimate and heartfelt,” Harry released a statement elaborating a bit more on the upcoming project.
“I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” he said. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the course of my life so far and excited for people to read a firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”
But Harry isn’t the only duke to leave the family and release a book following his exit.
The other duke who wrote a book after leaving the royal family
You’ve heard all the comparisons between Prince Harry’s wife and Wallis Simpson but you can also compare the Duke of Sussex’s actions to the man once known as King Edward VIII. Like Harry, his great-great uncle, who was born Prince Edward and became the Duke of Windsor, left royal life for the woman he loved. However, after doing so he too just couldn’t stop talking about that life he was no longer a part of.
Edward’s book was titled A King’s Story The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor and Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers talked about how long Edward wait to put out his memoirs vs. how long Harry has waited. While Edward waited 15 years after his abdication in 1936, Harry’s will be out two years after Megxit.
“The former Duke of Windsor waited 15 years before he spilled the beans on royal life and Harry has waited barely 15 months and I think that tells you an awful lot about his character,” Myers said on an episode of Pod Save the Queen (per Express). “Rather than going off into the sunset and seeking a life of privacy, he is all too consumed with what people think of him, and what narrative is being painted of him. It is completely at odds [with] what we were told [were] their reasons for leaving the royal family.”
The journalist added: “An ‘intimate and heartfelt’ memoir it might be from his side, but I cannot imagine it will be very heartfelt for the people that will no doubt be mentioned in the book — we’re talking about senior royals. We’ve already seen Harry make several very hurtful statements about Prince Charles [and] the way that he brought up his sons in the aftermath of their mother’s death.”
The timing of Harry’s memoir has ruffled a lot of feathers for another reason
The timing that Harry plans to release his book has also upset some people on the other side of the pond for another reason.
The fact that it’s slated to come out in 2022 means that it will hit shelves as Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is celebrating her historic Diamond Jubilee. That timing has been called disrespectful by some and is seen as another example of the Sussexes continuing to tear the limelight away from the royal family.
