‘Spare’: Meghan’s assistant was fired for using her position to get freebies

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had a rocky engagement and a rocky first few months of marriage. When I say “rocky,” I mean their treatment in the British media, not their relationship. They were happy together and Meghan would get pregnant soon after the wedding. They only announced the pregnancy in October 2018, telling members of the family at Princess Eugenie’s wedding, which was scheduled just before Harry and Meghan left for their South Pacific tour. The tour itself was a raging success – Meghan was hailed as a breath of fresh air, a true asset, a truly transformative figure for the monarchy. It all came crashing down just days after they returned to the UK. From Spare:

Stories rolled in, like breakers on a beach. First a rubbish hit piece by a hack biographer of Pa, who said I’d thrown a tantrum before the wedding. Then a work of fiction about Meg making her staff miserable, driving them too hard, committing the unpardonable sin of emailing people early in the morning. (She just happened to be up at that hour, trying to stay in touch with night-owl friends back in America—she didn’t expect an instant reply.)

She was also said to have driven our assistant to quit; in fact that assistant was asked to resign by Palace HR after we showed them evidence she’d traded on her position with Meg to get freebies. But because we couldn’t speak publicly about the reasons for the assistant’s departure, rumors filled the void. In many ways that was the true start of all the troubles. Shortly thereafter, the “Duchess Difficult” narrative began appearing in all the papers. Next came a novella in one of the tabloids about the tiara. The article said Meg had demanded a certain tiara that had belonged to Mummy, and when the Queen refused, I’d thrown a fit: What Meghan wants, Meghan gets!

Days later came the coup de grâce: from a royal correspondent, a sci-fi fantasy describing the “growing froideur” (good Lord) between Kate and Meg, claiming that, according to “two sources,” Meg had reduced Kate to tears about the bridesmaids’ dresses. This particular royal correspondent had always made me ill. She’d always, always got stuff wrong. But this felt more than wrong. I read the story in disbelief. Meg didn’t. She still wasn’t reading anything. She heard about it, however, since it was the only thing being discussed in Britain for the next twenty-four hours, and as long as I live I’ll never forget the tone of her voice as she looked me in the eye and said: Haz, I made her cry? I made HER cry?

We arranged a second summit with Willy and Kate. This time on our turf.

[From Spare, by Prince Harry]

The 5 am emails! LMAO. Remember how pressed those Salt Islanders were? The very idea that Meghan would email someone at 5 am! Hahaha. The stuff about the assistant is very, very interesting. Wasn’t one of the long-running rumors that Kensington Palace staffers kept turning away freebies for Meghan and Meg got mad at the staffers? Now Harry says: actually, we had to fire someone because the staffer was using her connection to Meghan to get freebies. I think I know who it is too – her name was everywhere for a time that year. She not only grabbed freebies, she sold some lies to the Daily Mail. And the tiara story – a good old hatchet job from Angela Kelly.

Anyway the “second summit” was the story about William and Kate admitting that they told Charles and Camilla that there was fighting between the two couples, and how Harry believes that Camilla leaked the whole thing. I think… Harry was sort of missing the bigger picture, that Camilla wasn’t the only one who had her knives out?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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77 Responses to “‘Spare’: Meghan’s assistant was fired for using her position to get freebies”

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  1. ThatsNotOkay says:

    I’ll bet that assistant (Toubati?) went straight to Jason Knauf and complained and he complained to William, and William screamed at Harry. Let the bullying allegations begin!

    • Elizabeth says:

      I read somewhere that Melissa Toubati was a friend of Jason Knauf. She’d worked for Robbie Williams and his wife as a nanny. There was a story that she lied about her experience on her CV.

    • Sugarhere says:

      Melissa Touabti being a friend of Knauf’s makes me wonder whether she was a mole on a mission to spy on Meghan, rather than a PA.

      To some extent, she felt emboldened to hijack freebies to her own benefit as she was garanteed impunity by both her connection to William’s man and special grooming mission.

      Touabti’s so called work for Meghan had been useful to the then Cambridges, as was her firing. That PA was accessory to Meghan’s character assassination when it became clear her layoff could be conveniently turned into a Meghan’s-diva-ways-and-exacting-standards resignation story.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Yeah. I’ve never had the impression Toubati was a hire of Meghan’s. It seemed more like she was brought in (by Knauf in March 2018) to “help” with the wedding planning. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence too that it was March of 2018 that the staged photos of Bad Dad and Rayner happened. l/s Held back until the week before the wedding.

        As Meghan’s PA (wedding/and otherwise), I’m wondering if she had any responsibility for the bridesmaid’s measurements given to Givenchy. So many ???
        (btw-Meghan wasn’t making the dresses-that the fittings were off-is NOT on her)

        Why did Kate feel so comfortable to p*ss on Meghan about the fittings? Meghan’s friends were not talking to Kate about how the dresses fit their girls.hmmmm

  2. Pnw says:

    This is really interesting stuff. No amount of money in the world could have made staying in the RF, and having to helplessly accept the bullshit, worth it.

    Hope they are staying safe!!

  3. girl_ninja says:

    That family and institution is nothing but lies, racisms and resting on their laurels.

  4. Kiera says:

    I haven’t read the book but from the excerpts I have read the one thing Harry doesn’t seem to do is link bad stories about Meghan to the firms need to cover Andrew.

    I think Will traded stories but I also think a lot of what happened was to try and deflect attention from Andrew. In that sense it wasn’t just Camilla but the institution as a whole that needed Meghan to fall in the sword. I’m sure they thought she would play along and then they would help rehabilitate her image down the line when they had quashed her spirit.

    • Jais says:

      I wouldn’t trust them to rehabilitate her image down the line .

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        They were never going to let her rehab her own image, much less rehab her image themselves. They were perfectly okay with her killing herself remember.

      • Kiera says:

        I’m sorry I should have worded that differently because no they weren’t going to help her in reality. But I’m sure they “thought” they were going to and couldn’t understand why she didn’t get that. They like most abusers lie to themselves that they have the victims best interests at heart and know what is best.

        Trust me I have zero faith in those people and truly think they wanted to break Meghan to make her bend to their will. If she died along the way well it would be unfortunate but hey we’re great at putting on funerals.

    • HamsterJam says:

      The real reason is that KFC and C would rather have Meghan commit suicide or be murdered by some deranged tabloid reader than have her outshine them the way Diana outshined them.

      They were jealous enough to orchestrate her demise, even if that included her actual death

  5. Miss M says:

    I believe Camilla probably leaked the crying story, but something makes no sense to me.

    If William told her, did he tell her the truth (and she changed the story when she leaked it to Tominey) or did HE change the story (and Camilla told the story exactly as he told her)?

    I feel like HE changed the story. Like if
    I screwed up, I don’t think I’d be happy if my husband told my in-laws at dinner. My guess is he embellished the story and Camilla ran with it. Add in a dose of Carol Middleton and boom, Tominey has her two sources that she claims she needs.

    • The Hench says:

      Although loving the fact that “two sources Tominey” is specifically called out here by Harry as ‘always getting things wrong’. Lol.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        ++ @The Hench. It was a beautiful thing to read. ‘Two Sources Tominey”. Always getting things wrong. The whole speaking to the ‘water board’ of Montecito is a funny story. Anyhoo, ‘Two Sources Tominey’ reminds me of Jimmy Two Times from Goodfellas. That Tominey repeats things multiple times does not make them true. Nor does having two sources working with each other.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD3y43cyddI

        Camilla Tominey being chirpful about the crying story. Around the 6:43 mark.
        Beyotch had the balls to say she expected someone from the palaces to say something-when it F*cking came from one of the palaces in the first place. At no time, did Tominey, contact Harry or Meghan directly. Just the word of palace sources who are now incredulously acting like they are not palace sourcing.lol

        For a long time I’ve heard that if you want to be a liar for a living become a lawyer. A sad statement when you know lawyers that don’t lie for a living. Years of observation tells me if you want to lie for a living, become a “writer”/RR for the tabloids/British Media tabloids especially. They have no rubicon.

        ETA: Sad Little Man of Four Takes is a well earned tile.

    • Becks1 says:

      I think he changed the story. If we picture this dinner as an anti-Sussex gabfest, then of course he would change the story. “you think the early emails were bad? Let me tell you what happened around the dress fitting.” Or maybe he just wasn’t specific. “let’s just say that the dresses did not fit properly, she refused to let Kate have the dress remade, and there were tears as a result.” the tears part isn’t a lie, but its certainly misleading, right? It implies Kate was crying.

      • Travelin123 says:

        He didn’t even really have to change the story! I bet Kate did cry. He just left out the part about why she cried. Her evil plan wasn’t working and Meghan wasn’t calling off the wedding. The poor sausage must have been so frustrated! I’m sure she did cry as a result!

        Of course Will didn’t tell Carole and C&C that Kate was bullying Meghan. They are higher ranked. It isn’t bullying, their wishes should have been taken into account. They had every right to demand xyz since it is the heirs wife telling the spares fiancé what to do. Of course she could demand the wedding be done according to her wishes. After all she had consulted her wedding dress designer! And the topics were the bridesmaid dresses and maybe the tights. I am sure that Charlotte probably did cry during that time period. She was 3 and her mom is crazy. Any toddler would be upset!

        So it is implied that of course the evil Meghan made the English rose cry. No need to lie at all. It was all perfectly reasonable. Meghan was just being too American and was uppity to assume that her wedding should reflect her and Harry’s choices.

      • Jais says:

        My question is why did William tell this story to Camilla? How premeditated was it? Did he tell knowing Camilla would leak? Or was he drinking and talking too much over dinner? Later in the book, William says that you can’t give Charles and Camilla an inch and I’m still not sure what that meant exactly.

      • Lara (the other) says:

        I can imagine Kate cried as well due to not be able to controll the situation. I can imagine her attempt to contoll Meghans wedding was a reaction to her lack of control over her life with Bulliam. But thats a reason, not an excuse. And telling only about Kates tears and not about Meghans presents a completly wrong picture. Lying by leaving out important informations.

      • Concern Fae says:

        Why does everyone assume the Kate crying is a lie? My thought from the beginning was that Kate cried, but not in the moment. She may have gotten teary with Wills or her mother. She’s a
        raging narcissist having to be a secondary character in another woman’s very public wedding, fer chrissakes! And post-partum!

        There were undoubtedly tears. They may have occurred around the time of the conflict over the dresses. But someone turned it into Nasty Nasty Meghanses, rather than Kate needs to get her shit together.

      • C says:

        Concern Fae- Meghan said SHE cried. If both had done, it she would have said so, imo.

    • greenmonster says:

      My guess: Kate did shed an angry tear out of sheer frustration because she couldn’t push Meghan around. William took that, tweaked it and told Camilla, so she could do the dirty work for him. He knew she would leak that story to the press.

      Although very different background Coleen Rooney comes to my mind who planted fake stories through her secret Instagram to figure out who is selling her out to the press. William knew who to tells fake stories to, so they would end up in the press.

      • Sugarhere says:

        Can we please agree to not revive the preposterous story that Katie cried. This is mere speculation and if so, this is irrelevant: she may have frothed at the gob for not getting things her way at her urban rival’s wedding. Katren did this to herself by displaying undiplomatic behavior instead of acting as a facilitator of Meghan’s big day.

        The only meaningful point to be derived out of Catherine Middleton’s words and actions is that she willingly pressed an already stressed out bride every button, hoping to make her snap. Faux-Crying Catherine’s people conspired to bribe Thomas Markle out the ceremony, resulting in a bi-racial American bride being left helpless in a semi-hostile all-White English Environment, with little to no support system outside Dora and Harry. So Kate’s imaginary tears aren’t worth insisting upon as it serves to shift the compassion onto the wrong woman.

      • Claire says:

        Something that still confuses me in this who cried thing – according to Harry, Meghan cried in their living room and the argument about the dresses took place over text. How would Kate or Will know that Meghan cried of this fight wasn’t in person? And for that matter, how did Harry and Meghan know that Kate didn’t cry? This part is still confusing me.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Where’s the confusion? Kate was b*tching at Meghan 4 days before the wedding. Meghan had tailors on standby for alterations. Kate couldn’t adhere to that to be helpful instead she chose to be a b@tch. 4 days from the wedding when the day before Meghan found out that her father wasn’t coming. Harry is sharing the story that Kate made Meghan cry. While all the other BS was going around. It really doesn’t matter if Kate shed one tear. imo The BM/KP?/CH put out a false story.

  6. Becks1 says:

    I think this gives bigger context to the bullying allegations and Jason Knauf etc. I bet if the results of the “investigation” were revealed, we would find out that Melissa T was one of the ones complaining about being bullied, probably bc either she was told to stop with the freebies or because she knew she was about to be essentially fired and figured she would have her revenge one way or the other.

    I do love his digs about Camilla Tominey, LOLOL. And she said in the article she got it from two sources – so let’s assume that’s true. Camilla and Carole? Even if it was just Camilla – that means that W&K were bitching to C&C about the Sussexes, they were giving vaguely specific but wrong details (dress fitting, one duchess made the other cry) and they knew camilla would leak the story. I still want to know what else was discussed at that dinner. Why else would W&K be bringing up a story from almost 6 months prior if not to give Camilla ammunition for the smear campaign?

    • L84Tea says:

      Ding! Ding! I think this Melissa person is absolutely entangled in the bullying accusations.

    • First comment says:

      Remember, this dinner took place while Harry and Meghan were in Australia and pregnant with glowing reports…… I’m pretty sure that they decided to collaborate on smearing Meghan…

    • Emily_C says:

      I don’t believe there were multiple people complaining about being bullied. Jason Knauf is the ONLY one who talked about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he whipped up the story with his friend Melissa, but this was Jason’s baby, with his boss Will’s full approval.

    • Nic919 says:

      It is very likely that Toubati was the only one complaining and that because of her previous connection with Knauf, he brought up the “bullying” years later because he was still in touch with her after she was let go.

      And there was likely strong evidence of her taking freebies which is why Knauf couldn’t protect her from palace HR when she was first let go. But now he had a chance for some pushback.

  7. Midnight@theOasis says:

    Someone had asked several Rota rats to respond to Harry’s description of them in Spare. The responses were posted on Twitter and were quite salty. And Camilla Tominey is digging up old articles and declaring how fair and balanced they are. Harry has them all shook😂🤣

  8. Bren- says:

    I finished the audiobook and Harry still has a bit of a blind spot for William’s complicity. Harry needs more time and space to heal from his family’s abuse.

    • ThatsNotOkay says:

      People often try to excuse their abuser. They want nothing more than to prove that the abuser loves them, it was all temporary, and that the person whose love they crave so much would never intentionally hurt them. Not feeling loved as a child (such as after Diana’s death) can do lasting damage to an individual and lead them toward unhealthy relationships with drugs, food, people, any/everything.

    • Becks1 says:

      I’m only halfway through but that stands out to me as well. Harry is constantly giving William grace and understanding that I don’t think he deserves. Maybe Harry recognizes that William processed his trauma and grief differently, maybe Harry has a good deal of pity for William being the Heir and being “trapped” as he said to Oprah, etc. He seems constantly surprised when William is an a-hole to him.

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        For me, the most baffling thing about Harry is how he extends grace to both his father and brother, two terrible people imo. However, it shouldn’t be so hard to understand I’ve come to realize. His mother is gone. They are all he has left of the family he grew up in so he just can’t accept the fact that they constantly abuse and belittle him when they should love him. We all want to be loved by the family we were born into. My fondest wish for Harry is that someday he will be, but it’s not likely because both his father and brother are so badly damaged. Then I hope he accepts this fact and makes peace with it because right now they are not worthy of all his grace.

      • Gabby says:

        Publicly pitying William will anger him more than all the other stories combined.

      • Christine says:

        I agree, Gabby.

    • Laura D says:

      @Bren- I agree. I think both William and Kate got away lightly. Especially, William. Right at the beginning of the audio book Harry tells the story about one of their ancestors being a sadist who liked to beat up stable boys (or people very low down in the pecking order), it was very clever because every time William did/said something horrible to Harry my mind went back to that earlier paragraph. I’m sure there was a lot more he could have said about William but, on reflection we all got the picture and not a lot more needed to be said.

    • Amy Bee says:

      Considering Harry accused William of leaking information about him and Meghan in the docuseries, I don’t think it’s true that he has a blindspot were William is concerned.

      • Bren- says:

        More often than not, Harry blames William’s aides/staff for the leaks, not William. That’s what I mean about the blind spot. He is still in denial that those people are doing what William wants. Harry is angry at William for remaining silent and not correcting lies. It’s frustrating that Harry doesn’t see that William is the source.

      • RoyalBlue says:

        I am almost 2/3 through the book and Harry slowly builds up the story arc. Harry loves Willy as his older brother, but then again notices Willy’s jealousy and the distance he keeps and the information he withholds until eventually, he sees him for who he really is. An ugly soul.

        It is narrated by Harry and strictly follows a timeline. So those reading the earlier parts of the memoir will see the love that the young spare has for the heir and his acceptance of his lot in life and discover that he gradually matures into a soldier with a sense of purpose. I am LOVING this so far. The audiobook is a gem. Harry sings a little part of the Elton John song and I melted. He is funny, he cusses, he is expressive.

  9. JanetDR says:

    Not surprising, but nice to know what happened with the assistant. Gosh, Meghan is stunning in that deep green!
    It was amazing to observe how the tone of everything changed during their first tour when it was evident how loved they were and apparently that was threatening to the other royals.

    • SomeChick says:

      I want to know what happened with the nanny who was fired in the middle of the night.

      • Travelin123 says:

        I was hoping to find out about the nanny as well!

        He did talk about Guy getting hurt. They don’t know how but Guy got out and was found badly injured. I suspect it was the paps or some deranger but they don’t have proof or just have suspicions. What a scary thing to have happen to your dog. And the poor dog!

      • Jaded says:

        @Travelin123 — Guy was actually injured in Toronto and was still in casts when he was brought to England so no, he wasn’t beaten up by a deranger or paps.

  10. TheOriginalMia says:

    So who is the royal correspondent he’s referring to? Camilla T or Emily Andrews?

    • Becks1 says:

      Camilla T had the crying story first.

      • Mary says:

        I think the biographer was Robert Jobson. His biography of Charles came out not long before the mudslinging started. If I recall correctly, he had the kernels of some of the negative stories about the Sussexes in his book but as well in his research and that leaked. Some of the other Royal reporters just separately “verified” the accounts. Tominey is not one of Charles’ biographers but she was involved in the crying story. She is a Middleton/Cambridge hack, that is why I don’t believe that Camilla leaked the crying story. I think it came directly from Kate’s camp.

  11. equality says:

    This also points out the illogic in H&M driving out or firing anybody. The palaces have an HR department. Anything would have to go through them. If somebody was so traumatized by working with them, why woudn’t a position have been found elsewhere instead of quitting?

  12. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    It’s way past time for consequences. The RF have only begun to witness the beginning of their end. It’s glaring. They underscore every time they speak. It’s glorious. It’s delicious. It’s time to pay. And I mean PAY. It won’t be long before demands for stolen property begin. I love H and M, I know he loves his family, but this is different. The way his family has behaved the past 30 years has destroyed the institution, and quite frankly, it’s the fault of the two in charge (and their employment of the media). Users. Abusers. Liars. Thieves. Treachery. Child harassment. Child endangerment. Child abuse. Genocide. I’m sure there’s a million negative descriptors for the “firm.” And no, they don’t get a capital letter lol.

    • Travelin123 says:

      I hope you are right. I know for me after reading Spare and watching the documentary I don’t see myself giving the royal family the benefit of the doubt any longer.

      Especially Camilla. I never liked her but the Netflix crown was quite generous to her. They spun their machinations as star crossed lovers. And her work with rape victims and domestic violence. I am horrified that I bought into the spin. After the Jeremy Clarkson article I actually have my stomach turn when I see a picture of her.

      Charles was emotionally distant and financially abusive of his “darling boy”. What a pathetic king he is.

      And the Wales… Kate has clearly been a spiteful mean girl for decades. No girlfriends and she even SWF her own sister! Perhaps that is why they are no longer as close?

      Harry was very gracious about Will and Kate but his recitation of facts made it clear that they are truly awful.

      I’m glad they got out. And that they were able to tell their story!

      • nutella toast says:

        Every time I see a quote from KC that begins with “Darling boy” I twitch. Anyone who has lived with someone who minimizes your pain and especially the pain they caused you (but have no interest in owning up to), knows there’s always a phrase that precedes something condescending, rude, or thoughtless.

        Mine was, “I’m just telling you”.

      • Emily_C says:

        @nutella toast: This. Mine was “I love you unconditionally.” Also never calling me by my real name.

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        It seems only Diana ever called Harry by his given name. That’s a symptom of abuse. Renaming someone is a form of asserting control over them. It’s disrespectful. And calling a grown man, “darling boy” is both asserting control and infantilising.

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      Mabs A’Mabbin, your comment is both beautiful and beautifully written. Thank you for sharing it!

      • Claire says:

        I don’t know, he also called William “Willy,” it seems they just had nicknames for each other. Me and my siblings all had nicknames for each other as children as well, I don’t think it was a sign of abuse. Also, by that like of reasoning, what to make of all of Meghan’s nicknames for Harry?

  13. ❌❌❌Tart ❌❌❌ says:

    Hasn’t Camilla Tominey been bragging how she was the one who broke the, false, Meghan made Kate cry story?

    • Amy Bee says:

      Yes, and everytime she’s asked or writes about it she changes the reason for Kate crying.

    • QuiteContrary says:

      Both Camillas are having a rough week, and I’m here for it.

    • Flower says:

      Camilla Tominey was also bizarrely the Rota Rat to break the news of H&M’s relationship in late 2016.

      I still think that it’s Kate leaking to Carole who then leaks to Camilla.

      I remember at the time lots of articles about Carole stepping back and being less hands on. So much so that William did not attend her 60th???

  14. Amy Bee says:

    Let’s see if Melissa will run to the times or DM now.

  15. Nikki (Toronto) says:

    Does anyone else think that he knows Camilla didn’t leak that story? But he wanted Camilla to know that Will and Kate put it on her. I think Camilla would have thrown Kate under the bus and continued the warring Duchesses story.

    Unless Kate and Will lied about who made who cry when recounting the tale?

    • Laura D says:

      Do you know what Nikki? I was thinking exactly the same. I listened to that part twice and he doesn’t say who leaked it to the press he just tells us what William said. It’s almost like Harry is saying to Camilla “Diana says hello” 😉

  16. Maxine Branch says:

    I think because Harry has achieved amazing results from his mental health journey he realizes that the problem for his father and brother is their lack of realization they need help as well. Therefore, he blames their actions on how damaged they are and of course his sympathy for them comes across as naïveté.. Just as Harry has made amazing leaps and bounds because of his taking charge of his mental health by seeking professional help, my hope for him is in time he realizes they do not want help and are satisfied with their journey and he is able to accept this and move forth.

  17. art maven says:

    The only transformation the monarchy can really undergo that’s a meaningful change is to wind itself down. Inherited royal status and influence is ridiculous.

  18. Canadian says:

    I am a third through SPARE. Harry’s account of events demonstrates, to me, that all of this is so much more nuanced than we realize. All of the family and their staffers briefed against each other from time to time, from BP to KP to CH, but with Meg it was a steady and relentless build of small stories that led to a tsunami of hatred and threats, fed by the tabloid press. He seems to only name names (ie Camilla) when he is certain of who did what. I have yet to read anything that shows W or K as the source, but that may come. Eager to read on and get into more of the details once Meghan arrived on the scene.

  19. Mina_Esq says:

    Either Harry or his ghostwriter reads Celebitchy hahaha

  20. Vanessa says:

    The Balls on this Melissa woman to be so disrespectful lowbrow to use your Boss Name to get free stuff and then turn around. Leak horrible untrue stories to the press to cover your own ass I’m sure the royal reporters knew the truth about what Melissa was doing but still knowing the truth decided to lie and make it seem like Harry and Meghan were the difficult bosses . Just like the crying stories the royal reporter knew the truth and still decided to lie no wonder they have been so upset about Harry book his exposed their lies .

  21. aquarius64 says:

    I will wait until I get my reserved copy from the library before final judgment. It sounds like Harry is giving grace, but he still making points that members of the BRF are the worst. It may be a calculation for Harry to not to go total scorch earth for be able to get more of an audience to read Spare and to get his family to wake up and get right. My 2 cents.

  22. Survivor says:

    Harry’s book is masterful for employing the writer’s credo: show, don’t tell. He gives concrete examples of Kate’s meanness, of Camilla’s vileness, of Charles’ neglect, of William’s abuse, of Meghan’s love and generosity. He never comes right out and says, Kate is mean, Camilla is vile, Charles neglected me, William hurt me, and I was abused. Instead, he shows, through example after example, the realities of his life and experiences. It’s overall far more effective than if Harry had come out and said, Kate is mean, Camilla is a snake, Charles is cruel, and William is dangerous. The subtext is there, but the reader is left to draw their own conclusions, which make the conclusions all the more powerful. This is why the BRF is so angered by this. They could dispute that they’re “not racist,” “not abusive,” “not selfish,” but these specific stories paint an indelible picture that will resonate into history.

    • Blithe says:

      Great points! And, I think, an adept way to address the twisted versions of the stories that are already out there — with vague attributions from “palace sources “ to bolster their supposed veracity. It sounds as though if anyone were to actively and directly confront Harry’s versions, they’d have to tell on themselves and provide even MORE horrific details — which is all to the good, I’d think, from Harry’s perspective, as he seeks to shine a light on the truths of his life.

    • RoyalBlue says:

      It was brilliant writing. The story starts off soft and tender with the boy, and how he saw the world, naive, giving grace to his father and brother. The story moves along, with the introduction of the Rottweiler and Kmart, and he gave them grace. Because he did not know at the time of their treacherous nature. Spare is seen through the mind of Harry to the point when something SHIFTED in him. in the garden scene in the Prologue, and he really saw his brother, as the bald and ugly arch nemesis.

      Bravo Harry.

  23. Annalise says:

    FTR- Meghan did not announce her pregnancy AT Eugenie’s wedding. Harry had told his cousins a couple weeks prior on Whats App. The wedding was just the first time they saw Meghan since hearing she was pregnant. Even Zaras husband admitted that

    • CourtneyB says:

      I said that to someone and they asked me where I heard it. Which was here. I went searching and couldn’t find anything to back it up. Mike has mentioned the WhatsApp and general convos and timelines but he never says, that I could find, anything about Meghan’s pregnancy or when or where they heard.

  24. Bex says:

    That assistant is the one Jason gave a glowing quote for in the Daily Mail. The fact he was working with the DM editor at the time came out in that editor’s statement to the courts.

  25. B says:

    I had to look at that green dress picture twice. I’m getting old, maybe my memory and my eyes are starting to go, but doesn’t she kind of look like a young Lucy Liu?