The year-long freakout about Prince Harry’s memoir has been fascinating. In many ways, the British media’s freakout has done little besides give millions of dollars in free publicity to a book with no announced release date. The hysteria has also shown the British media and British monarchy’s overeagerness to complain, explain and tell on themselves. But mostly, for me, the freakout has become so boring and performative. We get it, you salty bitches are worried that Harry will expose you all! I hope he does! Now move on! Well, in a hilarious turn of events, Harry is still refusing to share an advanced copy of his book with his father. Not that Prince Charles would even want to read it, Charles insists.

The Royal family is braced to read the Duke of Sussex’s memoir at the same time as the public, The Telegraph understands. Neither the Prince of Wales nor the Duke of Cambridge has seen any part of the manuscript, or even been told when the book will be published. Their lawyers and advisers have also been kept in the dark. The highly anticipated tome is expected to be published this autumn and will undoubtedly ruffle feathers, at the very least.

Sources close to the Prince of Wales indicated that he would have hoped members of his team would have been sent the book in advance of publication. They confided, however, that it was “unlikely to be on his reading list”.

Palace aides are aware that this is a book in need of little publicity. Having spent a reputed $20 million to secure the deal, a pre-publication strategy will have been carefully designed. The book is understood to have been finished and has already “gone through all of the legal processes”, leading some to speculate that Penguin is going for a “shock drop” by which publication will be preceded by a short, sharp flurry of revelations.

Nervous anticipation has cast a long shadow over the Royal family, doing little to repair already fractured relationships with the Sussexes. As such, palace sources find it difficult to envisage a situation in which he Duke of Sussex might enjoy a chummy reunion with his brother during next month’s brief return to the UK. Some are surprised that Penguin appears prepared to risk its reputation by publishing a book likely to contain highly subjective allegations. However, royal aides shrewdly note they will be acutely aware that the Royal family would never sue one of its own. While it is common practice for the purposes of accuracy to run certain allegations by those involved in advance of publication, in this case the risks are considered small. There is also no legal obligation to offer a right of reply.

It is believed that any publicity will be kept to a minimum and will be largely focused on the US market. A television appearance with a friendly network or an interview in a glossy magazine such as Vanity Fair are thought possible.

[From The Telegraph]

My vibe/prediction is that Harry isn’t going for the jugular, but it will be a lot like his on-camera interviews in The Me You Can’t See. In the long-term, the British media has barely even addressed what Harry spoke about in The Me You Can’t See, because Harry was so raw and he told the truth about what he felt and why he left. Have you noticed how infrequently those interviews are referenced? The British media focuses solely on the Oprah interview as “the most damaging thing” to them, but The Me You Can’t See was pretty f–king damaging too. As for Charles not getting a copy of the book… lol. I admire the fact that the memoir and everything around it has been so close-hold. No leaks from the publisher (except for the first leak, about the existence of a book deal), no leaks from Montecito, no leaks from JR Moehringer. It’s just Salt Island screaming into the void, week after week.

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