A new book about the royal family suggested that Meghan Markle has something to do with Prince Harry realizing that he was a “spare.” The said book disclosed huge secrets from within the four walls of the royal palace.
Royal biographer Tom Quinn claimed nobody knows the royal family like the people who feed and clothed them, organize their schedules and attend to their every need. In Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, Tom lifted the lid on what many insiders observed during their time waiting on Prince Harry and Meghan before they shocked the world when they decided to quit the royal life for good.
Tom claimed that Meghan “convinced’ herself Prince Harry was being treated as “completely unimportant.” The “heir” and the “spare” has long been a common way to describe the monarch and their sibling.
Prince Harry was born a spare and Prince William is the heir. However, Tom claimed the title took on a whole new meaning when Meghan opened Prince Harry’s eyes to a new perspective.
“The strongly held view among current and former royal staff is that Meghan felt she was standing up for her husband, telling ‘her truth’ and encouraging him to tell his, but this was seen as deeply disruptive,” he wrote.
In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry shared that the term was often used to described him within his own family. “They would say it without a spirit of judgement, but straight out. I was the shadow, the supporting actor, the plan B,” the Duke of Sussex wrote.
“I was brought into this world in case something happened to Willy,” Prince Harry added, using the nicknames that saw Prince William as “Willy” and Prince Harry as “Harold.”
For starters, the saying ‘an heir and a spare” refers to aristocratic families needing an heir to inherit a title or an estate, and the “spare” as the younger sibling who could be the replacement should anything happened to the heir before he or she has their own kids.
The term clearly annoyed Prince Harry enough to use it as a title for his book, and it taps into the longstanding difficulty of this uncertain royal understudy role, where there’s wealth and privilege but no obvious sense of purpose.
“It’s a non-position. There’s no clear role apart from shaking hands and being pleasant to people,” royal expert Professor Pauline Maclaran, from the Centre for the Study of Modern Monarchy, Royal Holloway, University of London, said.
Today’s Esquire reached out to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for comments.
Jaja has a degree in journalism and took classes in international law and business communication. Jaja’s career spans roles at prominent international media outlets, including Business Times and Brigada. As a news editor, she covered a wide range of beats, including business, economy, cryptocurrency, and personal finance. Additionally, she has successfully managed teams of writers producing content on gaming, technology, and entertainment.
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