For a couple who traversed an ocean and a continent to escape the royal spotlight, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sure have a funny way of signaling their supposed desire for privacy. Soon after effectively retiring from the royal family and moving to Los Angeles just before the pandemic, the Sussexes inked deals with Spotify and Netflix, and despite claiming they crossed the pond for “space” from the press, they performed in a quickly fact-checked and now Emmy-nominated tell-all with Oprah during which Harry accused his father and grandmother of being bad parents. Now, the pair is set to publish a memoir with Random House.
In an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time, Prince Harry will share, for the very first time, the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him.
— Random House (@randomhouse) July 19, 2021
…Prince Harry will offer an honest and captivating personal portrait, one that shows readers that behind everything they think they know lies an inspiring, courageous, and uplifting human story.
— Random House (@randomhouse) July 19, 2021
Really? Audiences will care about the “man” that a 36-year-old unemployed trust fund baby has become? This is a “man” who was complaining on national television just a few months ago that his father cut him off. Furthermore, this is the prince who has publicly lambasted the palace as toxic but is now reportedly begging granny to let him have his new daughter christened at Windsor. Furthermore, Harry stole his daughter’s moniker, “Lilibet,” from said grandmother and then lied about having her blessing to do so publicly!
Given that Harry has already aired all of his dirty laundry, this memoir will be a fraction as spicy as Hunter Biden’s — say what you will about the whiny Sussexes, but they do seem like a monogamous enough couple — and orders of magnitude more useless than Ivanka Trump’s snoozefest of a book. So, what sort of response does Harry expect? If the past is prologue, then he’s still clinging to the asinine hope that he and Megs can follow the footsteps of Barack and Michelle Obama.
The former first lady sold out entire arenas for her book tour, with tickets going for well into the thousands. Given what Omid Scobie, Harry’s unofficial hagiographer, tweeted in announcing the book deal, Harry clearly thinks, for whatever reason, that he has Obama-esque cultural clout.
Prince Harry is ready to tell his story. @penguinrandom announced today that the Duke of Sussex will publish “an intimate and heartfelt memoir” in late 2022. It will be “the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him.” pic.twitter.com/wqiv7jUM8v
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) July 19, 2021
There are just two problems. First, as was obvious the moment Harry and Meghan set out for superstardom, they simply do not hold the zeitgeist appeal of the United States’s first black president and his style icon, double-Ivy League graduate of a wife. But now, the once-royal couple have an even bigger issue: They’re overexposed. How can Harry be “ready to tell his story” when whining to his rich friends is all he has done since moving out of his family’s house?
Only time will tell, but over a year is a long time to gamble that the couple won’t run their mouths to the press. It would be a shame if they spoiled the story before it’s out, assuming they haven’t already.
