Pop Culture

The Royal Family’s names continue to circulate through the headlines as of late. This is mostly thanks to Prince Harry, who has been telling his story through various mediums. First, he and his wife Meghan Markle dropped off their six-part Netflix Original docuseries. Now, his memoir’s arrival is nearly here.

Aptly titled Spare – a reference to his position behind older brother Prince Williams’s role as heir to the throne – the book makes its debut on Tuesday (January 10). Prior to that, various leaks and previews appeared in the press, sparking excitement over the juice secrets to be spilled by the father of two.

On Sunday (January 8), an interview between Prince Harry and Anderson Cooper was aired on 60 Minutes. The conversation is a precursor for many of the topics in the book. Among them is the death of the royal’s mother, Princess Diana.

As the journalist asked the 38-year-old about his tragic loss, he confirmed that he does hold the paparazzi responsible for their alleged role in the socialite’s untimely death. “It was obvious to us as kids the British press’ part in our mother’s misery. I had a lot of anger inside of me that luckily, I never expressed to anybody,” he explained.

“But I resorted to drinking heavily.  Because I wanted to numb the feeling, or I wanted to distract myself from whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well,” Harry later added. In a voiceover, Cooper specifically notes that weed and cocaine were two of his vices of choice.

The prince also says that he struggled to cry over his mother’s death. This led him to try out experimental treatments using hallucinogenic mushrooms ad other psychedelics to connect with himself more.

“I would never recommend people to do this recreationally,” the Brit told the American. “But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.”

For Harry, it seems the most powerful part of the experience was getting rid of the feeling “that [he] needed to cry to prove to [his] mother that [he] missed her when, in fact, all she wanted was for [him] to be happy.”

In another interview, this one with ITV, the father of two clarified past claims about the Royal Family’s behaviour towards people of colour. Rather than labelling them as “racist” he wants to clarify that they’re guilty of “unconscious bias.”

“Once it’s been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you have an opportunity to learn and grow from that. Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism,” Prince Harry says.

Let us know if you’ll be reading Spare in the comments. Make sure to check back later for more pop culture news updates.

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