He wasn't very academically able as he was dealing with his mental health issues brought about from his mum's death and the whole Royal thing of not showing emotions.
William ignored him in school, like most older brothers would their siblings, but he didn't take it well.
He enjoyed physical sports like rugby as this was his outlet.
Even when the media tried to make him seem like an angry, thick rebel, he was actually trying to be a regular guy who was mourning his mum.
For his gap years he went to work on a farm in Australia and Lesotho, an AIDs hit country in Southern Africa to build schools, homes etc.
He was driven through the tunnel in Paris where his mum had died and said the thing was short and unremarkable. He believes that the paps may have contributed to his mother's death by blinding the driver... but it's all guesswork.
His spirit animal is a red fox as he saw one late at night and many years later, once it was reported in the media where Harry was serving his tour in the Helmand province, it was the codename the Taliban gave him as they sought to assassinate him.
He talks about unconscious bias as he called one of his compatriots of South Asian descent a 'Paki'. He owns his error as says he had heard it a lot and didn't know it was a racial slur, likening it to 'Aussie'. He realised his mistake and apologised to the individual who took it in good grace. His Nazi costume gaff was a poor choice and he has regretted it ever since.
He had a frost-nipped penis (which was circumcised at birth, apparently for class rather than religious reasons) from his walk in the Arctic Circle. To help it heal, he put Elizabeth Arden face cream, the scent of which reminded him of his mum.
He thought of the Invictus Games after seeing how sports helped to focus and ease the pain of wounded soldiers in America but he wanted a bigger event to raise the profile.
To help his mental health he took up psychedelic drugs like ayahuasca and magic mushrooms but also meditation.
He really likes Botswana and it is his happy place.
William was jealous that Harry was allowed to keep his beard for the wedding and was allowed to wear his preferred military uniform.
William and Kate and Charles and Camilla seemed to be vying for the limelight, but whereas they will put up with fake news and libelous claims, Harry would not tolerate that and broke royal protocol to protect Megan. As a result, he upset the palace and the media.
Charles and Camilla needed to keep their 'brand' at the front so when the row about the bridesmaid dresses and Kate making Megan cry was told to them, someone from their comms team informed the media ensuring a feeding frenzy around the young couples. This led to a worsening of relations between the House of Cambridge and Sussex.
The security detail was completely removed for Harry and his family, this meant that he and his family would not get any security at all even though they were at a high a risk as the Queen was from attack. The security cost around £6 million a year.
Charles cut off Harry's funding, leaving him as a man in his 30s with very few marketable skills and heavily infantalised. Considering Charles' Duchy of Cornwall earned millions, Harry felt this was a huge insult.
He decided to do the Oprah interview as he didn't want to do things on the sly. He asserts his father and Camilla had spoken to the authors to create their curated biographies whilst denying being participants, but Harry wanted to be upfront and chose an interview who he considered beyond reproach.
So these are the main points I got from the autobiography. I've read a lot biographies and autobiographies over the past 12 months, and I mean a lot! Yes, these were often of celebrities who wanted to show their best self and were not your typical lay person but it has been interesting to see how candid they were and actually critical of their own actions or inactions. I read the autobiographies of Oliver Stone, Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), Tegan and Sara, Mel B, Louis Theroux, Reggie Fils-Aime, Simon Reeve, and Seth Rogan as well as the biographies of Peter Falk (Columbo), William Blake and Robin Williams. As well as this I listened to a lot of audiobooks on people including the excellent Dermot O’Leary podcast People, Just People and the perennial favourite Desert Island Discs. I learned a lot from these and, even though many of these people lived vastly different lives to mine, I found many shared the same worries, concerns and dreams as I and, I assume, many other people have.
With autobiographies, the danger is that what you get is a highly polished and lacquered version of the truth; the rough edges sanded out leaving a gleaming yet lifeless end product. What we have here is different though, it is painfully honest but, as with all autobiographies, version of events from a singular viewpoint. This is my truth isn't the same thing as this IS the truth; it can't be as there are so many perspectives and viewpoints to consider that that wouldn't be possible. A life lived isn't empirical but messy and nuanced and so what we have is Harry's version of events. Whether things occurred as he portrays them, I can't know, but the points he raises against the media and their portrayal of Megan I have seen. I've seen the playing off of Megan vs. Kate, the rancid tabloid articles about avocados, Megan's staff leaving etc. It does reek of snobbery and racism and I agree with him on that. As for the rest, I don't know and to be honest it's not my concern. I wish them well and hope that they find the peace and happiness they seek, preferably away from the media spotlight.
LINK- William Blake vs the World- Book Review
LINK- The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds- Book Review
LINK- The Future Starts Here: An Optimistic Guide to What Comes Next- Book Review
LINK- Utopia for Realists- Book Review
LINK- Natives: Race and Class in the Ruin of Empire- Book Review
LINK- On And On And Colston ( Or, How We Kinda Sort of Learned to Talk About the Legacy of Colonialism and the British Empire)
