Prince William’s Probably Still Not ‘100% Sure’ Why Prince Harry Wants an Apology, Historian Says
Sorry. It’s not a word Prince Harry’s likely to hear from his brother, Prince William, soon. The reason, per a royal biographer, is the Prince of Wales — even the Duke of Sussex himself — probably doesn’t know “in detail” what he did to warrant one. The expert’s take on Harry’s “cryptic comments” in Spare, plus how the memoir is an answer to a 2021 question posed by William.
Prince Harry wants an apology from the royal family: ‘Just come clean’
During a flurry of promotional interviews for his memoir, Harry called the royal out directly while speaking to The Telegraph. “Because you know what you did, and I now know why you did it,” he said. “And you’ve been caught out, so just come clean, and then we could all move on.”
The way I see it is, I’m willing to forgive you for everything you’ve done, and I wish you’d actually sat down with me, properly,” Harry continued. “And instead of saying I’m delusional and paranoid, actually sit down and have a proper conversation about this. Because what I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.”
Historian thinks William and other royals aren’t ‘100 percent sure’ of ‘what they did’ to warrant an apology
According to historian Gareth Russell, there’s a very real possibility William isn’t aware of why exactly Harry called for an apology.
“As the title of the memoir suggests, Prince Harry has always felt like a spare,” Russell told GB News (via Express). “So basically, it’s just the luck of the family tree there. He makes quite cryptic comments like, ‘They know what they did.’ Which, given that he’s prepared to specify in detail everything else, is strange.”
“So I don’t think anyone’s 100 percent sure what it is,” the historian continued. “Even according to Prince Harry himself, Prince William doesn’t know what it is.”
Harry revealed after his book’s debut the original draft totaled more than 800 pages. Additionally, he shared he’d omitted certain things the British royal family would never forgive him for revealing, and, perhaps the “know what they did” line was included.
Russell explained, noting Spare’s prologue (more details ahead) “where Prince Harry says, William was asking, ‘What is it? What is the problem?’ And Prince Harry said to himself, ‘How could he not know?’”
“So I think maybe there’s a lot of things that Prince Harry is carrying around,” he said. “But it’s possible that even Prince William isn’t 100 percent sure what all of them saw, according to Prince Harry.”
‘Spare’ is Harry’s way of telling William and King Charles why he and Meghan left royal life
Given William didn’t likely spend the days immediately after Spare’s release reading Harry’s words like this writer and so many others did in January 2023, he probably didn’t glimpse for himself the first few pages of Harry’s memoir. Or, for that matter, any of it.
This means William didn’t read Spare’s prologue about Harry recapping the conversation they and King Charles had after Prince Philip’s 2021 funeral. Specifically when William, per Harry’s recollection, claimed he “honestly” didn’t know why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left.
“To claim no knowledge of why my wife and I took the drastic step of picking up our child and running like hell, leaving behind everything — house, friends, furniture? Really?” Harry said in Spare. A look at his father’s face, which bore a “Neither do I” expression, Harry thought to himself, “Maybe they really don’t.”
“If they didn’t know why I’d left, maybe they just didn’t know me. At all. And maybe they never really did. And to be fair, maybe I didn’t either. I thought: ‘I have to tell them. How can I tell them? I can’t. It would take too long. Besides, they’re clearly not in the right frame of mind to listen. Not now, anyway. Not today.’ And so: Pa? Willy? World? Here you go.”
So, Spare was Harry’s way of explaining to William and King Charles why he and Meghan bid farewell to royal life. Meanwhile, today, nearly nine months after Spare’s release, William and Harry show “no real sign” of ever reconciling.
