California has many charms, but the Golden State’s year-round sunshine may be starting to lose its shine for the Duke of Sussex as pictures of the Prince and Princess of Wales enjoying their holiday with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Balmoral show.
In more harmonious times 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 forest.”
King Charles arrives at Balmoral for his summer residence earlier this month
Instead of grouse hunting with King Charles or deer stalking with Prince William in Scotland, Harry is stuck in Montecito, planning his next moves with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex.
When the royal family is on holiday in August, Harry and Meghan seem to get down to business: last week, on a “quasi-royal tour” of Colombia at the invitation of a vice president who had seen them on Netflix. This week, they announced plans to attend Climate Week events in New York next month and informed the world of the publication date of the paperback edition of Spare.
It will be released in October, according to the press release from the publisher Penguin Random House, which includes a detail that will be a relief for the Royal Family.
This means that the new, cheaper edition will not contain any new material.
Which is a surprise because most publishers of a record-breaking book like Spare would want an updated chapter with new revelations to give them a second chance and boost sales.
In further good news for the King, I revealed in my social journal, Eden Confidential, today that Harry was not planning to give any interviews to publicise the launch.
This is significant. It was not just Spare’s content that caused so much distress when the book was published in January last year, but the succession of interviews Harry gave to publicise his memoirs.
With one interviewer, Stephen Colbert, he spoke about his frozen penis. With another, Tom Bradby, he lamented the king’s mistakes as a father and how the monarchy had “slept with the devil” by collaborating with the dreaded press.
Harry and Meghan announced their plans to attend Climate Week events in New York next month and informed the world about the publication date of the paperback edition of Spare
The fact that Harry is not giving interviews this time is further evidence of what royal sources have been telling me for some time: that he is increasingly desperate for a reconciliation with his father, as well as the Royal Family in general.
“There is no doubt that Harry wants to patch things up with the King,” said a source. “His father’s cancer treatment has given things an added sense of urgency.”
It’s safe to assume that this is the main reason why Harry won’t be updating his tasteless memoir with new commentary on his relationships. It’s also the reason why he won’t be trying to sell more copies of Spare with appearances on talk show couches.
But will it work? It may encourage the king to start taking Harry’s calls again, but it will take a lot more time before William is even willing to consider a reconciliation.
Sign up for Richard Eden’s royal newsletter. Click here.