The Spare, Prince Harry
Book Review
I thought it only polite, since I have written to his Royal Highness, that I read his book, which, after only three days (and in between caring for patients) I have completed. This was a very well written and expertly narrated story of the Prince, starting from his memories as a child, and the devastating loss of his mother, right through to his army career, training to fly helicopters, the Apache, working in close combat in Afghanistan and climbing the north Pole highest point.
One of the reasons it resonated so much with me, notwithstanding the stark difference in our lives (I don’t live in a Palace with armed guards when I nip to the Coop for milk) is the stories he tells of his mental health, the panic attacks he suffers. At the hands of the media, his life and those close to him, are vilified, and lies are spread and reproduced about everything from an outfit he wore at a fancy dress, to a girlfriend he had, the recreational drugs he smoked.
The most eye opening part of the book comes towards the last third, where he meets the beautiful Meghan Markel. The love he writes of with her is a pleasure to read, and I hope they last forever. What was incredibly difficult to read was the paparazzi response to their courtship and then marriage. It made me grateful for my anonymity. The degradation they faced in the press was beyond redemption and sadly, as the saying goes for the Royals, “never explain, never complain”.
The story really told me that anxiety and mental health transcends wealth, fame, and notoriety and created even more desire to spread my website and the information about Complex-PTSD as far as I can. I don’t usually read autobiographies, but of course now that I am writing my own, will be put them at the very front of my shelf. Not least to be nosey and take tips! I think the age of fifty, (me) is a relatively good age to write one, even though there may be drama’s worthy of a story, in my future. I hope these are only positive ones, and I extend this wish to the Prince. I hope that he continues to improve his own battles with panic and anxiety, and that he continues to expand awareness in the suffering of veteran’s, Helping The Heroes, who will face any number of traumas that may need support in the future.
