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Prince Harry “didn’t go far enough” with his criticism of the Royal Family, an editorial in the LA Times has said. Writer Meredith Blake analysed the Duke of Sussex’s recent Netflix series, interviews, and memoir, adding that he has exposed serious flaws in the royal framework.
She wrote that the Windsors have been portrayed as a “cold, dysfunctional and ruthless clan” where “hugs are beyond the pale but leaking stories to the Sun about your own kin is standard practice’.
The writer also claims that, in Harry’s view, King Charles is “detached and relentlessly self-serving”, Prince William is “dull and peevish” and Camilla is “a conniving stepmother straight out of Disney-villain central casting’.
However, Ms Blake says Harry didn’t go far enough because he fails to challenge the monarchy itself.
Asked by ITV’s Tom Bradby if he still supports the monarchy, Harry simply replied: “Yes”.
The tell-all memoir, which was ghostwritten by Pulitzer Prize winner J R Moehringer, promises to be packed full of explosive revelations and insight into the Royal Family – and there’s even an audiobook read by the Duke of Sussex himself.
You can buy your copy of Spare on Amazon.
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Ms Blake says Harry wrote 400 pages in his memoir setting out a case against the monarchy “but ultimately dodges the very pertinent questions he raises about the dynasty he once epitomised.”
Addressing his views on the monarchy in the book, Harry wrote: “No one wants to hear a prince argue for the existence of a monarchy, any more than they want to hear a prince argue against it.
“My emotions are complicated on this subject, naturally, but my bottom-line position isn’t. I’ll forever support my Queen, my Commander in Chief, my Granny. Even after she’s gone.
“My problem has never been with the monarchy, or the concept of monarchy. It’s been with the press and the sick relationship that’s evolved between it and the Palace.”
Ms Blake challenges Harry’s view, however, saying that the fact the Duke says he has no problem with an institution he criticises so heavily is “disingenuous.”
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She refers to Harry’s interview with CBS in which he says this would make “no difference”, but Ms Blake argued that keeping the titles is incompatible with the Sussexes’ “liberal cred.”
Harry’s memoir has certainly sparked renewed debate about the future of the monarchy in Britain.
Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchist group Republic, argues that the book should reinforce the view that the “cruel” institution should be consigned to the history books.
He told the LA Times: “This row is destroying the monarchy and any sense of mystery or mythology that has sustained it in the past. We can now see very ordinary, unimpressive people who are prone to quick tempers, fits of violence and petty jealousies.
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Catherine Mayer, the royal analyst and biographer of King Charles, warned last week that Harry’s book has the potential to threaten the Royal Family’s future.
She told the Guardian: “It is possibly something that will mark the beginning of the end of the monarchy, and that is what we should discuss.
“It is important, given the lack of trust in the state at the moment and an upsurge in rightwing politics. Members of the royal family have become our proxies for anger about racism, misogyny and wealth. This is, after all, an institution that stands for inequality, so there are huge things at stake.”
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