Prince Harry has been tipped to write a sequel to Spare because of the memoir’s commercial success, but a royal expert has warned it may scupper the Duke of Sussex’s chances of reconciling with the Royal Family.
Author Robert Hardman suggested there may be a second part to Harry’s bestselling memoir during an appearance at the Hay Festival.
Mr Hardman, quoted by the Independent, said the book boils down to just four or five pages about Harry and Meghan Markle‘s wedding, adding: “Now, as an author, that says to me one thing and one thing only: part two might be on its way.”
The author of Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, suggested Harry’s bombshell memoir is still casting a shadow over his relations with the Windsors.
Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield, speaking on her YouTube podcast Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered, said Spare Version 2.0 would jeopardise the Duke’s chances of mending relations with his family.
She said Harry’s contract with the publisher was for multiple books and that despite criticism the work was a success commercially.
However, she cautioned that the Duke may not pursue a sequel at a time when his father King Charles and sister-in-law Princess Kate are undergoing treatment for cancer.
Ms Schofield added: “I don’t feel like he would put his family in such a weird position while they’re battling multiple cancer issues, but I do think it’s a no-brainer that if Spare were such a huge financial success for him that he leaned back into that.
“I feel like that really was, aside from the Netflix docu-series, one of [the Sussexes’] only real commercial successes.”
The royal expert cited the Telegraph as reporting that some 25 pages had been removed from the original manuscript of Spare amid legal concerns and Harry not wanting to hurt his father’s and brother’s feelings.
She continued: “We know there’s still content out there in the world and I hope he wouldn’t pursue this if he has any desire whatsoever of a real reconciliation. I think it would just jeopardise any hope of that in the future.”
Fellow royal expert Katie Nicholl said there was more than enough material for Harry to write a sequel, but she asked: “Is this the time to be settling old scores? Is this the time to be going back over a painful past? I think, absolutely not.”
The writer and broadcaster added that, according to her sources, Harry wants to have a better relationship with King Charles.
She said: “If that is authentic and genuine, then you’re not going to do a sequel where you’re trashing your family all over again. You would wipe out any chance of a reconciliation.”
Ms Nicholl suggested a follow-up to Spare could cover their new life in the US and what it’s been like to raise their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, in California.
She added: “I don’t know how many more spats and arguments we can hear about before just thinking, ‘Gosh, this is just more of the same’.”