California has many charms, but the Golden State’s sun may just be starting to shine for the Duke of Sussex, after seeing photos of the Prince and Princess of Wales enjoying their holiday with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Balmoral.
In a more harmonious time for the royal family, Prince Harry would have been with his brother and sister-in-law at their Highland retreat at this time of year.
“For me, Balmoral was always just paradise,” Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare. “A cross between Disney World and a sacred Druid grove.”
King Charles arrives earlier this month to take up residence at his summer residence at Balmoral
Instead of shooting grouse with King Charles or deer hunting with Prince William in Scotland, Harry is stuck in Montecito, plotting his next moves with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex.
While the royals are on vacation in August, it looks like Harry and Meghan will be getting down to business: last week, when he went on a “quasi-royal tour” of Colombia at the invitation of a vice president she’d seen on Netflix. This week, when he announced plans to attend Climate Week events in New York next month, and updated the world on the release date of the paperback edition of Spare.
It will be released in October, according to a press release from publisher Penguin Random House, which includes a detail that will come as a relief to the royal family.
This means that the new, cheaper edition will not contain any new material.
That’s surprising, because most publishers of a record-breaking book like Spare would like to see an updated chapter with new revelations to reap the rewards and boost sales.
More good news for the King: I revealed today in my social diary, Eden Confidential, that Harry had no plans to give any interviews to announce the launch.
This is telling. It was not just the content of Spare that caused so much anguish when it was published in January last year. It was the succession of interviews Harry gave in preparation for publishing his memoirs.
To one interviewer, Stephen Colbert, he spoke about his frozen penis. To another, Tom Bradby, he lamented the king’s failings as a father and how the monarchy had “been to bed with the devil” by colluding with the fearsome press.
Harry and Meghan have announced plans to attend Climate Week events in New York next month and have told the world about the release date of the paperback edition of Spare
The fact that Harry is not giving interviews this time around is further evidence of what royal sources have been telling me for some time: that he is increasingly desperate for reconciliation with his father, and also with the rest of the royal family.
“There is no doubt that Harry wants to make amends with the King,” a source said. “His father’s cancer treatment has made the situation even more urgent.”
It’s safe to assume that this is the main reason Harry won’t be updating his tasteless memoir with new comments about his relationships. It’s also why he won’t be trying to sell more copies of Spare with talk show appearances.
But will it work? It might prompt the king to take Harry’s calls again, but there needs to be a lot of water under the bridge before William is even willing to consider a reconciliation.
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