Spare: Prince Harry

Theme:

Spare by Prince Harry (Duke of Sussex) and J.R. Moehringer (Ghostwriter), details his childhood and the profound effect of the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as his teenage years, and subsequent deployment to Afghanistan with the British Army.

Summary:

It is a deeply honest and intimate memoir of his life, his struggles, and his journey towards finding purpose and duty in the Royal family. It sheds light on the pressures of royal life and the importance of mental health.

Famous Quotes:

“(The fonder the memory, the deeper the ache.)”

“I love my Mother Country, and I love my family, and I always will. I just wish, at the second-darkest moment of my life, they’d been there for me too. And I believe they’ll look back one day and wish they had too.”

“Is each generation doomed to unwittingly repeat the sins of the last?”

“It wasn’t that she felt no emotions. On the contrary, I always thought that Granny experienced all the normal human emotions. She just knew better than the rest of us mortals how to control them.”

“He assured me that people do stupid things, say stupid things, but it doesn’t need to be their intrinsic nature. I was showing my true nature, he said, by seeking to atone. Seeking absolution.”

“She said: That was everything. She said: That is a man. My love. She said: That is not a Spare.”

“In some ways he was my mirror, in some ways he was my opposite. My beloved brother, my arch-nemesis, how had that happened?”

“Grief is a thing best shared.”

“In this mixed-up world, this pain-filled life, we’d done it. we’d managed to find each other.”

“No one had an answer for a boy actually seeking external pain to match his internal.”

“Being royal, it turned out, wasn’t all that far from being onstage. Acting was acting, no matter the context.”

“Weddings were joyous occasions, sure, but they were also low-key funerals, because after saying their vows people tended to disappear.”

“not to be devastated by my mistake, but instead to be motivated. He spoke to me with the quality one often encounters in truly wise people—forgiveness.”

“Study, concentration, requires an alliance with the mind, and in my teen years I was waging all-out war with mine.”

“I’ve never been more in love with you than in that moment.”

“Never complain, never explain.”

“Enough death – enough. When is someone in this family going to break free and live?”