Plenty has been written about Spare, the autobiography of Prince Harry, in recent weeks.
Since the book was released early in Spain last week, the most explosive parts have been dissected, debated, disapproved of and dismissed. For anyone who is now going to read Spare, there will be few surprises.
We know about his drug use, how he felt about his now-stepmother Camilla, Queen Consort as a teen, how distant his father King Charles III was for much of his childhood and that he has had physical fights with his brother, Prince William as an adult. We also now know that he blames Prince William and his wife Kate for choosing his Nazi fancy dress costume and Harry’s side of the Meghan versus Kate fallout in the run-up to the wedding.
Critics of the Duke of Sussex will read the book and see it as little more than self-indulgence, with little interest in the context of many of the most salacious stories. Fans will see it as 416 pages that give him the opportunity to tell his side of the story after 38 years of seeing it, in various versions, written for him in the British press.
Enter the audiobook: 15 hours and 39 minutes of Prince Harry reading Spare aloud, which provides an undeniable nuance. Actively listening to Prince Harry telling his side of the story is key — it is more than we had in Netflix's Harry and Meghan documentary, and the kind of revelations Oprah Winfrey would have loved to have teased out in her March 2021 interview with the couple — and he deserves to tell his story in full, not simply in selective headline excerpts.
“My memory is my memory, it does what it does, gathers and curates as it sees fit, and there is just as much truth in what I remember, and how I remember it, as there is in so-called objective facts,” Prince Harry says in chapter two, covering his back for undeniable claims of misremembering. He undoubtedly knew that his own grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 comment, “recollections may vary”, would be levelled at plenty of his claims.
The audiobook isn't an easy listen. Hearing Prince Harry recount the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and the years following her death is heartbreaking at times. After an epilogue that recalls an informal meeting with his father and brother following Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, which Prince Harry describes as like a “duel”, Spare really begins with Princess Diana’s death.
In the first chapter, the British royal recalls a holiday to St Tropez with his mother and brother in the summer of 1997. He recalls meeting “mummy’s friend", who he describes as having “raven hair, leathery tan, a bone-white smile”. It’s clear that he is referring to Dodi Fayed, but Harry calls him “blah blah”; he later says he now knows he was his mother’s boyfriend.
Going into chapter two, anyone familiar with late 20th-century British history will feel tense. Prince Harry has left St Tropez, and his mother, and is in Balmoral, the royal family’s estate in the north of Scotland. It is where the two young princes were on holiday with their father and his family in August 1997, when Princess Diana died.
Images of Prince Harry, aged 12, and Prince William, aged 15, greeting mourners outside Kensington Palace in the days after she died and walking behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral are among the most famous of the nineties. However, we’ve never heard Prince Harry’s version of events. While I am not entirely sure we needed to be privy to every one of his most intimate revelations in Spare, it does seem fair that after more than 25 years of discussing the death of Princess Diana, the world hears from one of the two people on earth it affected the most.
In Spare, almost everything comes back to Princess Diana. Not just in the early chapters, which are squarely about her and life after her death, but as the young royal becomes a man and informing his decision to step down as a senior royal.
He reveals, painfully, that he thought his mother was still alive, just hiding or on the run, for years.
“Soon, soon she’ll send for me and Willy,” he says of his brother, adding that he confided his suspicions to Prince William, who he says admitted the thought had also crossed his mind. As late as 2001, he had what he saw as tangible evidence that she could still be alive.
As an adult, he obtained a police report that he hoped would bring him closure. The report included pictures of Princess Diana at the accident, which he said didn’t help give him closure, but fuelled his hope she was still alive. During his gap year, he recalls an incident with a leopard, which he inferred as a message from his mother.
“I thought of my mother. This leopard was, without any doubt, a sign sent by her, a messenger to tell me: ‘Everything is OK. And will be OK,'” he says.
At times, it feels like he is trying, and broadly failing, to make himself seem normal. His anecdotes range from the mundane — crushing a whole pack of Opal Fruits into one giant chewy sweet, for example — to the exceptional. He recalls travelling to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela and the Spice Girls on the first school holiday after the death of Princess Diana.
For many, however, the most unrelatable part of Spare will be his interfamilial relationships. While he has fond stories of his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, who he calls gan gan, and his granny and grandpa, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, he says he “never hugged granny,” and “wondered if pa had ever hugged her”. Whenever he quotes King Charles speaking to him, he says he called him “darling boy”, but describes him as a man who was “not ready for parenthood”. He recalls the years he wasn't allowed to speak to his brother while they attended Eton together.
He also has a very frank relationship with his role within the family, which goes some way to explaining how he has found himself telling all about a famously guarded institution. He calls himself the “shadow, support, plan B” for Prince William, the heir and plan a, who he calls his “beloved brother, [his] arch nemesis”.
The words spoken aloud on the audiobook are cutting. He is, I think, trying to sound at peace with the cards he was dealt, but it comes across loaded with venom.
There is plenty to feel sorry for Prince Harry for, and it seems clear that plenty of his complaints carry weight. But even after listening to his heartbreaking recollections of his childhood and its traumas, as an adult, much of what he says sounds like a series of unrelatable complaints, which is where he has lost many of his supporters.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Four tips to secure IoT networks
Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:
- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version
- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number
- Usually smart devices come with many unnecessary features. Users should lock those features that are not required or used frequently
- Always create a different guest network for visitors
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
More on animal trafficking
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
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THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
