Author: Prince Harry
# of Pages / Duration: 16 hours (audiobook)
Genre: Non-fiction, Autobiography
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last. Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight. At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love. Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .
Review: Defensive, whiney, entitled.
Gave this one a listen at 1.25x speed since I knew I wouldn't be able to get through a book about public figure I'm not interested in without their story being forced into my brain.
I would rather him plainly tell his story from his perspective. Instead, Prince Harry tells his story through clickbait headlines and tries to argue against them. As someone who only knows a bit about the Royal Family from pop culture (and takes tabloid headlines with a grain of salt), most of the articles he mentions I've never even heard of (or if I have, it's from one of the many interview he and Meg have done).
Normal people don’t worry about how history will remember them - they worry about whether they’ll be remembered at all. Prince Harry is still thinking like a royal, and it shows in this book. Instead of worrying about his own life, Prince Harry cares a lot about how he's perceived and will be perceived in history.
Unlike Jennette McCurdy's stunning book last year (another celebrity who's life I don't pay much attention to), Prince Harry's life is pretty boring. The part that touched me the most was when he talks about losing his mother and being in denial - it felt like he was speaking from the heart and sharing HIS experience rather than sharing how he was influenced by others (paparazzi or otherwise). The rest of the book goes over mostly his experience in the military which is incredibly dry. It also open up more opportunities to complain how his life was negatively affected. This includes a section about how his penis got frostbite - while amusing it doesn't tell me much about Prince Harry other than he had a bad experience and wants the reader to feel sorry for him.
Even if you're a Royal family drama fan, I do not recommend this book. Just watch their interviews to get the highlights if you're curious.
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