'Spare' us more details: Prince Harry's new book is less poignant, more cringeworthy

Let's just say that since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit from the Royal Family, their lives have been anything but peaceful.

From jumping around from house to house during the pandemic and their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey to their Netflix documentary detailing every aspect of their experience with the Royal Family, wherever they go, chaos seems to follow. Markle and Harry met in 2016 when a mutual friend organized a blind date in London. The pair instantly hit it off and started their whirlwind love story. Just more than a year later in November 2017, Harry proposed to Markle, and they were married in May 2018.

Once they were married, they earned the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and quickly moved the Frogmore Cottage. Exactly a year later, their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born.

Markle and Harry throughout their time in the Royal Family faced much scrutiny, including much of the press racially targeting Markle. Shortly after their son was born, Markle and Harry toured around Southern Africa. While on the tour, Meghan was interviewed one-on-one for an ITV documentary called "Harry & Meghan: An African Journey," where she famously stated that "not many people have asked if I'm okay."

Markle also added that she always tells Harry that "it's not enough to just survive something, right? That's not the point of life. You've got to thrive. You've got to feel happy."

After much scrutiny from the press and various lawsuits, Markle and Harry, along with their son, decided to leave the Royal Family and abstain from any royal duties. Initially, they moved to Canada, but due to the pandemic, they quickly moved to Los Angeles to be closer to Markle's mother. 

Not much was heard from the couple until they were interviewed by Winfrey in 2021. Many were shocked about the stories and experiences they had while in the Royal Family, especially because it's so unusual for a royal to publicly speak on a controversial topic.

In the interview, Markle revealed that she had suicidal thoughts while living in the U.K. and she had experienced racism from the family and the press. Harry stated that he felt trapped in the Royal Family and that his relationship with his father and brother is currently fractured. 

In late 2022, Markle and Harry released a documentary on Netflix going into more depth about the troubles they faced while in the Royal Family. Both described their childhoods, the beginning of the relationship, Markle's wedding drama with her father, restrictions from the Palace and the media's continuous harassment of them. 

Quickly following the release of the series, Harry’s autobiography "Spare" came out, along with three interviews with different journalists. But upon its release, a lot of controversies came out surrounding the book. While many still seem to be on Harry's side, more steadfast royal supporters and royal haters alike seem appalled at his transparency. It's extremely unusual for a royal to reveal this much about the family, as most (besides Prince Andrew) have remained impartial and keep out of any matters that are controversial.

Throughout his novel, Harry describes his life from a young age and the damaging effect that his mother’s death had on his life. Even his reasoning for the title of his book "Spare" originates from the name his father called him when he was born since he had an older brother, Prince William, who would inherit the throne.

Despite Harry’s touching and pity-inducing stories from his childhood and beyond, many were shocked by the extremely TMI anecdotes that he shared. Many others seemed not to care, but found his oddly intimate stories to be embarrassing at best.

Everything was revealed in the book, including Harry’s description of his brother, Prince William, knocking him to the floor during a fight, his admission that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan, his assertion that William and his wife, Kate, encouraged him to dress up in his infamous Nazi costume and the story of him losing his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a bar. One of the most uncomfortable stories Harry told was that of his charity trip to the North Pole in 2011 where he got frostbite on his penis.

In the book, he stated, "My penis was oscillating between extremely sensitive and borderline traumatized."

After a friend convinced him to put Elizabeth Arden cream on it to help, and Harry added, "My mum used that on her lips. You want me to put that on my todger?"

Although much of the book focuses on important topics and how the media has affected Harry’s childhood and marriage, it's overshadowed by his weird stories. It's also hard not to see this book as a cash grab. When Harry and Markle first left the Royal Family, they claimed they wanted to lead a peaceful life away from the media, but all they have done since leaving is talk to the media.

Despite Harry’s attempts to be relatable with his oversharing, he misses the mark because he could never be relatable to the average person. Many find it hard to sympathize with someone who was born into one of the richest and most famous families in the world. It's understandable if Harry and his family want to leave but to continuously make documentaries, books and partake in interviews to "tell your truth," at this point, just seems out of touch.

The creation of their non-profit "Archewell" was a good step forward in actually trying to promote change within the society without monetary gain, but Harry should’ve stopped there. Sure — they deserved one interview where he and Markle get everything off their chests and were able to share their story. But at a certain point, the public has begun to question the true intentions of these tell-alls.