Can we just stop for a second and recognize that Prince Harry’s book promotion is great? I haven’t seen such an amazing, confessional book promo since… Jessica Simpson, honestly. That’s not a slam! J-Simpson’s memoir was well-received and it sold well, and that’s what will happen with Prince Harry too. Anyway, as you can see, Harry covers this week’s issue of People Magazine. They got an exclusive interview AND an exclusive photoshoot. He looks amazing and he sounds great too. In all of the interviews, Harry has looked younger and unburdened. He’s so happy to finally tell his story! Some highlights from People’s exclusive interview:
Relatable prince: “While I know much of my life may seem unrelatable, I do think most siblings can relate to struggling with comparisons, and my brother and I are no exception.”
What he hopes his family will takeaway from Spare: “I don’t want to tell anyone what to think of it and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It’s a raw account of my life — the good, the bad and everything in between. My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone’s life, well, I can’t think of anything more rewarding than that!”
Diana’s death: “I struggled for years to accept or even speak about my mother’s death. I was unable to process that she was gone. I’m not sure anyone can ever truly have closure when they lose a parent, or anyone for that matter, especially when that grief may be the only thing left of them. The healing process has allowed me to get to a place where I now feel the presence of my mum more than ever before. She’s with me all the time — my guardian angel.”
His two tours in Afghanistan: “I don’t know that you ever fully reconcile the painful elements of being at war. This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I’ve listened to their stories and have shared mine. In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us — the lives lost, the lives taken. But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we’ve saved. It’s a duty, a job, and a service to our country — and having done two tours of duty in Afghanistan for my country, I’ve done all I could to be the best soldier I was trained to be. There’s truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings, but I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy. Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.”
Why he left Salt Island: “My relationship with Meghan has opened my eyes to so much I fear I otherwise would have never fully understood. To this day, I’m doing important and necessary work to understand and address unconscious bias — it’s ever-evolving and requires us to step up and speak out where we can — even when it’s our friends, families or loved ones.”
He wants his kids to know their British family: “I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution — so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy.”
He is where he is meant to be: “I have a beautiful and blessed life — one that comes with a platform, and with it responsibility that Meghan and I plan to use wisely. I feel I am exactly where I am meant to be and exactly where we [my family] are meant to be. I don’t think I could have written this book otherwise.”
That last quote made me think of Diana. All of the bitter royal commentators would have you believe that Diana would be aghast by Harry, that she would “force” him to reconcile with and capitulate to the Windsors and… I just don’t think Diana would feel that way at all. Harry is living the life Diana dreamt for herself. I also like what he says about his military life and how he hopes his story can help veterans. The reaction from the British media to the Afghanistan parts of Spare have been incredibly damaging to the veteran community, and Harry wants to refocus and point out: “There’s truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings, but I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy.”
Cover courtesy of People, additional photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- New York, NY – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are seen after a visit to One World Observatory with Governor Hochul and Mayor de Blasio. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen sharing a laugh with the NYC mayor as they stood for photos. The royal couple ascended to the 100th to 102nd floor observation deck of the Freedom Tower for meeting. The couple are due to spend three days in NY marking their first trip together since Megxit and following the recent birth of their daughter. and Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 23 SEPTEMBER 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Santa Barbara, CA – Prince Harry plays his last polo game in Santa Barbara before heading to London with his family to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. Harry’s side Los Padres won the Lisle Nixon Memorial Final event in “sudden death” extra time 15-14 against Mokarow Farms on Sunday (May 29). Harry’s Argentinian friend and teammate Nacho Figueras scored the winning point. There was no sign at the game of Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle. Harry was named as “H. Wales” on the scoreboard. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 29 MAY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex attending a lunch reception during the One Year to Go event, one year before Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023, at the City Hall on the Market Square in Dusseldorf, Germany. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 6 SEPTEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attending the press conference during the One Year to Go event, one year before Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023, at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 6 SEPTEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York City, NY – Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, seen during the red carpet arrivals at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala held at the New York Midtown Hilton Hotel. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 6 DECEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
That cover photo! This is the best I’ve ever seen him.
He looks really good.
Harry is a very good looking guy. He looks happy on the cover.
Yes! And he gets better with age – contrast to the other brother
@Marivic, @Wendy-
Yes, Harry is very photogenic and handsome, and yes, he is one of the type of men who improves with age, experience and wisdom.
He really does look good on this cover. I wonder if he sent them this photo to use or did a photographer from People take it? Often, they use past photos in the public domain but this one is clearly just for the magazine.
Answering my own question, but I saw more photos online. This man did a photo shoot. Bless.
I am swooning over that cover photo! He is definitely winning sexiest man alive.
Amen to that! So handsome, and he looks so much at peace.
People underestimate the good that soul-searching, seasoned food and love does for your looks.
This is what Meghan, therapy and Rogaine did for him. Those three gave him Purpose in life, Peace of mind and a fresh growth of hair.
Harry, I love you but please remove “unconscious bias” from your vocabulary. Racism; just say racism.
Agree 💯!
Agreed
Seriously. Dude, your entire existence was wholly subsidized by deeply entrenched structural racism, colorism, and inequality – none of it is unconscious.
I cringe every time I hear him say it. Cut it out Harry!! Better to say nothing than this bluhbluhbluh seriously. I say this with all love as a Black British Commonwealth citizen.
As a black woman, I have no issue with him saying unconscious bias. It’s admittedly broader than racism and that may not be a bad thing. His work with disabled vets has probably opened his eyes to the range of bias that exists. I also know from some work with my teams that we did on racism that sensitizing the teams to unconscious bias was an excellent way of getting them to start recognizing and addressing their (intended and unintended) racism.
As a white woman who does try to call out racism in white people, the lack of precise language is a problem. I often fall back to the Catholic doctrine of sins of omission and sins of commission. That it’s a sin even if you didn’t know, but not really held against you. However, if you keep at it once you know, that’s a sin of commission and serious.
i agree with you Thelma. Im half asian- and for me, “racism” involves intentional hatred. “unconscious bias” speaks to the many micro-aggressions that non-white people are subjected to daily. There’s a difference to me when someone calls me hate speech versus when someone asks me where I’m from (if it’s well-meaning and out of genuine curiosity) I understand that my viewpoint is different than from other people of color, but that’s my opinion and my two cents. i believe there is a distinction to be made, and we have to come up with a universal distinction, which is what Harry was clumsily trying to do yesterday IMO.
@Thelma
I completely agree with you.
I was one of those who used to be impatient with H for saying “unconscious bias” and wanted him to say “racism/racist.” But while I agree that there are those who are deliberately, cruelly and overtly racist (KKK/q’anon/trumpists/etc) there are also those who are otherwise decent folks who grew up in homogenous communities/situations. I recall Lisa Ling on Archetypes, telling M that as a journalist, she has been in a whole lot of nooks and crannies in the USA and that most of the time, she’s the only woman of color in those rooms.
As a woman of color, myself, who grew up in a homogenous community, I know that ive grown up with stereotypical beliefs about people of other races.
So H is right to use the phrase “unconscious bias” as a general descriptive. And he’s right to take it further to say, when you know better, if you refuse to change your behaviours/beliefs, then thats when it can be unequivocally said that you are deliberately, cruelly and overtly bigoted or racist.
@Kingston, same here . I had to realized as a black women I had stereotypical views (last month I found myself saying someone did look Chinese.) If someone had told me 2 years ago that I had unconscious bias I would have screamed at them.
Yes, it’s racism. But honestly, if you are trying to effect actual change in white people, calling out unintentional racism as racism triggers many of them and they will shut you out entirely. I see no reason why Black people or other people of color should sugar-coat it, but I understand why he as a white man does–addressing it as unconscious bias helps many white people think a little bit more and be more willing to change instead of putting up a defensive wall. And we very much need white men to help other white people start that journey of thinking about unconscious bias as a step toward seeing racism more clearly. He’s just trying to start people on that path.
This is exactly how I see it as well. Thank you for commenting.
I 100 percent agree. He’s a white man who knows a lot of racist white men, he knows what worked with him, and he’s calling it out in a way that will get them to listen. The world needs all the white men calling this stuff out we can get, let him try. I wish he would be super aggressive and say “racist evil people!” but if he does, only the people who already agree that’s going on will listen.
I work for a non-profit with a board of 99.9% white people. We tried to talk about DEI at a board meeting, and half the board flipped out, thinking that we were accusing them of being racist or the organization of being racist. They refused to listen, and the entire meeting was contentious.
Dayum! He looks handsome!!
The cover photo alone will put him in the running for the next sexiest man alive. But they did photoshop more hair.
When I watched the 60 Minutes interview it looks like he may have more hair now. Maybe not a full blown hair transplant bur I wonder if he’s getting injections. I have a friend who has been getting injections to reduce hair loss and his hair is similar to Harry’s now where he can cover up any remaining baldness pretty well.
But also it’s People and they always photoshop the hell out of their cover photos. I think it’s a little of maybe Column A and definitely Column B.
Is that really how it looks IRL? The part that stood out to me was how high def everything is except the top of his head each piece of stubble is an individual hair, then you have the smudged top of his head.
I don’t know about hair restoration treatments, but he didn’t have that much hair in the 60 Minutes interview. He has a JFK head of hair on the People cover. Photoshop.
Harry’s Revenge Wiglet
😂
“Sources close to the Princess of Wales say she is livid Harry is wearing a wiglet. He knows all she has in this world are buttons and wiglets and his insistence of copying her keenness is the last straw!
If Harry wants a War of the Wiglets then Her Royal Highness, Catherine Middleton, of the Bucklebury Middletons who own the international sensation called Party Pieces which is totally legit and not a front for money laundering, is more than willing to go to war.
Insert obligatory mention of Meghan here because no response from a royal source is complete without mentioning Meghan even if she is not involved with the situation.”
@Blue Nails Betty
OMG! This is too accurate, lmao! His skin is looking moisturized too. Kate is pissed!
He does seem to have more hair than he used to have.
One thing that can affect hair growth is stress. I imagine since he’s less stressed now his hair growth may be a little stronger.
Also, he’s probably eating more healthy foods (you know he probably had a typical bachelor’s diet before Meghan) and that can help with hair growth.
Or People photoshopped his hair to be fuller when they toned down his gingerness (wtf?).
Along with the promotion, the memoir itself is chef’s kiss! The way he’s exposed the media sycophants (I will, from now on refer to Dan Wootton as H refers to him “sad little man” and I love how he expresses exactly how the sane part of the British public feel about CT. She makes a lot of people feel ill) Seriously, really well done Harry!
I’ve said it before but I thought he would come off different in interviews but he really does seem at peace and weightless. He’s fully come into himself and he’s free to express that no matter how people receive it which has been pretty positive. Must be an amazing feeling for him after years of being shacked and some ways abused.
I say this as someone who likes and admires H&M, believes their story and empathizes with what they’ve been through. but I think he/they need to move on after this. Be satisfied with the bombs they dropped and get on with their lives. Let the fallout takes its course.
Who says they aren’t? The book just came out today lol. He’s finally getting to tell his own story today. If they were still releasing more info like this next month then I would make this comment but today? Nah let him celebrate lol
I agree, and I say this as someone who is sitting by my open front door looking out the screen for the Amazon driver to arrive with my copy of Spare. The best thing for them to do is never to mention the Royal Family again. Living well is the best revenge – and they are crushing it.
It really irks me when people say they have to “move on.” So he’s supposed to move on from what’s happening in his life? Or move on from appearing in public, ever again? What exactly do people expect them to DO for the rest of their lives if they’re required to “move on” and shut up now? Do we expect other people, say Greta Thunburg to “move on” since we know what she thinks about the environment? Maybe Barack Obama should “move on” and never mention politics again.
Honestly, if what they say or do bothers you, don’t read it. Maybe people should move on from complaining that H&M are speaking (H specifically).
I certainly don’t think they need to “move on” in the way that you took it to mean. I just don’t want them to appear to be a one-trick pony, and the only thing they have to capitalize on is their royal connection.
They are so much more than that and I would like to see the focus on them and their work and not on them and their relationship with the family on Salt Island. Even Harry said that they have said what they needed to say and intend to move on and I hope that they do that. That horrible chapter in their lives is over and they can focus on a bright and happy life in sunny Montecito.
Barbara I agree, and it irks me too. The people who say they should move on have not lived the experience, the media abuse and trauma the Sussexes have. They are in no position to tell people to move on.
@Barbara
Thank! You!
Okay @communiKate. 🙄
Seriously? Are you really saying there is a chance that Harry and Meghan are going to spend the rest of their lives on promoting the docuseries/book?
Harry and Meghan are booked and busy. The current focus is on the current projects they’ve released. Once the (very limited for this kind of memoir) promotion is over they will move on to the next project on their to do list.
Yes pls move on Communikate. Wouldn’t want u to ruffle ur own feathers more
People—the magazine of choice for the mini-van majority—is helping Prince Harry get his message out to middle America. Well done.
I have to say I disagree a bit about this being a perfect rollout. I fear he may be approaching oversaturation and at that point people turn and stop taking what you say seriously. I hope that doesn’t happen here.
This is pure conjecture, but he may be getting it all out there so that there’s nothing that anybody can say about him, or throw in his face. If the courtiers and rota say ‘oh yeah, so if you’re gonna lob grenades at us, we know your secrets too mister’ then he says ‘not if I tell on myself first’ and here we are. My other theory as for why he’s saying it all, is because his mother’s own words were obfuscated and erased. Nobody can say ‘people think Harry is xyz’ based on conjecture- he’s put it all out in black and white for all to see; the good, bad, and ugly.
Michelle Obama was everywhere too with her book tour!! This is all standard.
Besides Colbert this is probably the last of the promotion. Maybe he’ll do 1 more show after this but I’m thinking People is the last of the promotion. Though the British media has been printing about Harry and Meghan almost everyday and no one seems to be tired of them over there.
Yeah Michelle Obama literally had a stadium tour, lol. I tried to get tickets in my city but they were gone like hotcakes. Harry has Invictus coming up in September, plus didn’t Omid hint about a podcast for Harry? I think that could tie into Invictus too. Then Meg will have another season of Archetypes. So I think the Sussexes are booked and busy for the rest of the year. The Unroyals are in the rearview mirror.
I agree. With the leaks, out of context quotes and sketchy translations, it’s been a bit messy, but it looks like that’s only going to drive up sales even farther. They will he making serious bank and good for them.
I think they will weather this storm and once people actually read the book they‘ll see how good it is and the focus will change.
H & M aren’t one trick ponies and they will get back to doing great advocacy very soon.
I’m seeing people in my timeline getting turned off. They tend to be the terminally snarky who call things cringe, so not surprised, but it is there. You can also see the replies to the Daily Mail and Page Six posts of the crowd trying to Amber Heard him. Obviously manly men who take racism and women’s pain seriously are a threat.
Your algorithms are feeding you with exactly what you asked for.
I think it is approaching oversaturation but I dont think that’s his fault. If the copies hadn’t been up for sale in Spain, we wouldn’t have gotten 75% of the early leaks that we got. That’s not his fault. So if we take away all those leaks (which again was most of them), then it really would have been a perfect rollout. That early sale in Spain screwed things up IMO.
Most people in the US dont know he did an iTV interview so that’s kind of a non-story here. So in the US, we have Anderson Cooper, Michael Strahan, and Stephen Colbert, plus People. So I do think that’s been very well planned.
Yeah, I feel like we have to acknowledge that literally everywhere beyond this site, his rollout is not being well received (and I’m not just talking about the right wing mob who hates everyone good). I’m seeing people who supported them being confused by some of the stuff he’s been saying, people saying they’re overexposed, contradictory, etc. Harry can’t help the massive amount of leaks that happened, but I’m not seeing his interviews being taken well at all. I’ve seen a lot of comments around the internet to the effect of “Yes, his wife endured racist vitriol. Yes, it was right for them to protect themselves and step away. But now he says his family isn’t racist and he would reconcile with them? Then why did he call Will his arch-nemesis in another interview?” And I do think some of the messaging with him is…mixed.
You say this perhaps because you HAVE NOT paid attention to other writers during their promotion of a new book.
No. The press surrounding this is far beyond any other book promotion. I didn’t say it was all Harry’s fault or that HE did anything wrong. I said that oversaturation leads to backlash. Objectively. For anyone.
It’s not about oversaturation. The negative reactions are exactly what were paid for and rolled out when Diana worked with Morton, when Diana did Panorama, when she was doing landmine work etc. I’m sure there are lots of genuine people who don’t like the Sussexes, but the reason you see a lot of sneering is that it always ramps up whenever they actually use their voices. Not a coincidence.
People criticized Diana when she spoke well of Charles after the divorce too.
So you’d say another day in the life of the royal rota along with the uk royals being trashy – sure agree,
Yep. That’s EXACTLY what I said….
jfc
I just love him. That’s it.
Same here. Meghan too. I just hope they’re happy as possible and living their best lives.
It sounds to me like Harry is saying that while he would like to reconcile with his family in the UK, he’s also going to be okay if that never happens. It would be a bonus if they understood and took accountability for their actions but his life is not hinged on that happening. I think regardless of what everyone says today, history is on Harry’s side. I think his kids can easily know their family and history – but if I were him and Meghan, I’d never leave his kids alone with his family – ever.
THIS
I’m coming over here to comment because I LOVE this site and love talking about stories, and I’ve learned SO MUCH about the royals from the coverage here and especially the commenters. I finished Harry & Meghan this weekend and I’m waiting with baited breath for Spare to drop into my audible.
That’s why I’m not reading any of the stories about his book yet. I read the one about William assaulting him and that made me not want to read any others till I can read the book myself! It’s 15 hours long though, I’m in the middle of a bunch of work deadlines, I have kids and I WAS reading the January 6 report, LOL. But I’ll come back and read everything as soon as I finish the book!
I agree that this rollout feels like Jessica Simpson’s memoir, which was really good, so I have high hopes for Spare. I’ll be honest, I feel really protective of the Sussexes and I’m worried the media and a lot of people will use it to tear them apart because he seems to be sharing SO MUCH. I hope he feels good about it and it doesn’t affect his mental health. I want the best for them!
Great photo, but why did they de-ginger him?
Yesterday on Twitter, I was reading through the #Montecito thread looking for first person, weather-related info on the storms and evacuations there.
Lol, of course it was overrun with H+M comments. There was one thread in particular that had video of H appearing annoyed that M was trying to hold his hand. Comments that someone who worked for them said they have separate bedrooms on opposite sides of their home. That Harry is miserable with M. That this is all fake happiness for book promotion.
Idk when the video was taken, but I’ll say this…Harry must be an amazing actor to be faking the joy and peace he’s been radiating.
Archie will be headed off to college and we’ll still be hearing about how miserable and on the brink of divorce his parents are. It’s so bizarre to me because even if Harry and Meghan are awful, attention-seeking liars like their detractors claim, it still wouldn’t mean they aren’t in love. Hell, Charles and Camilla aren’t great humans and yet they are clearly devoted to each other.
These unhinged fantasies are fundamentally racist because Harry and Meghan’s connection is undeniable. There’s something about it they refuse to accept. And we all know what it is.
Seriously Harry and Meghan will be grandparents and we’ll still have stories that they don’t love ea other
Wow, his resemblance to young Prince Philip with the beard is very strong in that photo. His red hair is way muted here but I think that’s because of the dark lighting.
I love his comments here, even those about unconscious bias. A lot more people are probably more guilty of that than racism.
Not trying to thread Jack cause this is off topic. But for the folks who have publishing backgrounds, how do ghost writers get compensated? Do they get a flat fee or a percentage of sales or some combination of both? Just curious because JR Moehringer has done an excellent job of writing Harry’s story.
Waiting patiently for my copy to arrive (Please Mr. Postman – hurry up). I noticed the remark Harry made about his children having relationships with his family “and they do with some.” Would that be Eugenie? Anyone else in the family? Also why does Will call Harry “Harold?”
I joined the Army when I was 21.
It was at Ft. Jackson, SC.
Believe me when I say there’s nothing “basic” about Basic Training. My barracks was “Tank Hill”. All female bunker.
Training was rough. They teach you how kill,point blank! How to take apart a gun. How to put it together. How to shoot. There were shooting contest. Winner got a sharpshooter medal.
Marched everyday and twice on Sundays. Facing the gas chamber.
Then, there’s bivouac. You camp in the woods under extreme conditions. Dig a hole as a latrine to take a dump. Doing manuvers.
Week before graduation, I was told I had to leave. Medical problem.
There is nothing easy about serving your country.
The oath says ” To protect my country from all enemies foriegn & domestic.”
Harry did what he had to do to protect his fellow soldiers from all enemies foriegn & domestic.
Let it go people.
Prince hot ginge looking good as hell.
Can I just say that Meghan’s husband is hoottttt
He looks like his grandfather (in ginger). Bet the other brother and the dad are also salty about that.
He is relatable. If I had not been in a family of Narcissistic people myself (emotional abusers), I don’t think I’d be as invested. He’s given me the courage to speak out in due time. I mean if he could speak against the massive global British monarchy and press, yeah. My sisters don’t have that much power to do anything. So yes. He used his platform in a very good way and EXACTLY how he intended.
Will calls Harry Harold because Will is a dickhead. Harry’s real name is Henry, as in Henry the VIII. It’s a hostile, bitchy, dickhead move on Will’s part, in short, the dickhead move.
It’s a dig. Yes. Willy is a d-ck