Although Prince Harry’s official reason for delaying the release of his memoir is that he wants to observe a period of mourning following the death of Elizabeth II, publishing industry sources say he may also be using the time to rethink how he wrote about his family and whether he still wanted to detonate any “truth bombs”.
The Telegraph and Page Six have quoted inside sources as saying the much-feared memoir by the royal family is likely to be published in 2023, rather than in the holidays this year. The Telegraph said the Queen’s death on September 8 had thrown plans for its publication and publicity “into turmoil”.
Page Six said Harry is now hoping for more time on his book, which was actually ghostwritten and completed by American JR Moehringer some time ago. Harry wanted to rethink exactly which “truth bombs,” if any, he wanted to drop, Page Six said.
According to a Page Six source, the big question is: “Is Harry pulling out something potentially bad that he wrote (William, Charles and Camilla) about now? Who knows what will change?”
Everyone is sure that Harry would never write anything negative about his grandmother. “He always had the utmost love and respect for her.”
Apart from Harry’s possible concerns about unflattering passages about certain relatives, the Queen’s death is such a “seismic moment” for both the monarchy and Harry that he will have to update the book so it doesn’t look out of date, The Telegraph said.
Whether Harry or the publisher, Penguin Random House, is responsible for the delay in publication, the decision comes as Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, try to keep a low profile, be respectful and follow royal guidelines for events in memory of the Queen, which are forthcoming from her funeral on 19 September.
The couple’s feud with the royal family was put on hold for the funeral and some royal watchers wonder if this truce could lead to a reconciliation. At the same time, Harry’s memoir “proved to be a significant obstacle to reconciliation,” the Daily Beast said. “The family and former employees are very concerned that the couple will use the book to settle scores.”
Little is publicly known about what Harry plans to say in his book, and the royal family has not received an advance copy. Tom Bower, author of the recent book “The Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors,” told British channel GB News that he heard the book “is going to get very ugly,” the Daily Beast reported.
All Harry would say in his press release when the deal was announced last year was that he was “writing this (book) not as the prince I was born, but as the man I have become.” He said he hopes to tell his story — “the highs and the lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned” — to show that “we have more in common than we think.”
Bower also claims Harry insisted the book be released in November, mainly because of finances. The couple’s ability to maintain their high-end Montecito lifestyle depends “entirely” on the book being published and finally creating content for Netflix and podcasts for Spotify, Bower said.
A source close to the Sussexes told The Telegraph that the couple want to observe a period of mourning which will “probably go well beyond the official 10 days”. The Duchess of Sussex has also decided to delay the release of her next episode of her Spotify podcast Archetypes for six weeks “as a mark of respect”, The Telegraph said.