Prince Harry opened up about his difficulties with accepting his role within the Royal Family in his autobiography.
Prince Harry resented being referred to as the family’s spare (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry has revealed the origins of his rather harsh nickname ‘Spare’, much to the surprise of royal enthusiasts worldwide.
The Duke of Sussex disclosed in a recently unearthed excerpt from his memoir that it was allegedly his father, King Charles, who first referred to him in such terms.
This came about when Princess Diana gave birth to a second son, prompting Charles to exclaim: “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done.”
The Guardian newspaper highlighted Prince Harry’s longstanding resentment towards his nickname, which he expressed in his memoir. The publication stated: “Harry’s resentment of being the ‘spare’ is the underlying theme of his book, through chapters on his childhood, his schooling, his career as a royal and in the British Army, his relationship with his parents and brother, and his life with Meghan through courtship, wedding and marriage, to their own experience of parenthood.”
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Despite the difficult relationship he has had with the royals in recent years, he appears to be eager to bury the hatchet with the King.
The King allegedly first used the nickname right after Harry was born. (Image: Getty)
The Duke of Sussex has been open about his desire to mend the strained relationship with his father.
However, the pair did not meet during Harry’s last visit to the UK in May as he attended celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games whilst his father hosted a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
During his previous visit, Harry was granted a brief 30-minute meeting with his father, who was about to commence his cancer treatment.
Despite the short duration, Harry was reportedly grateful for the opportunity to see him.
Harry’s strained relationship with the royals also extends to his older brother Prince William, to whom he dedicated an extensive section of his memoir.
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In the book, he claimed the pair shared a difficult relationship from a young age which was exacerbated by William’s alleged demand Harry “slow down” his relationship with Meghan Markle.
But a royal insider has suggested that Prince William and Kate, the Princess of Wales are making efforts to mend fences with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Royal author Tom Quinn told The Mirror: “There has been a shift here since Kate’s illness Harry and Meghan do feel they need to extend an olive branch, but Meghan’s sense of grievance is still preventing anything really meaningful from happening.
“Illness often brings warring family members together, and there have been hopes at Kensington Palace that Kate’s illness might do it.
“Harry would like a reconciliation, but supports his wife completely and until she feels that the Royal Family have been sufficiently nice to her and grovellingly apologised for the past – it’s not going to happen.”
