Pulling no punches. Prince Harry‘s memoir doesn’t come out until 2022, but Prince Charles may need that time to prepare for the fallout.
“If I was Prince Charles, I’d be looking for a pile of coats to hide under,” royal expert Andrew Morton told Us Weekly exclusively on Tuesday, October 19, adding that the 37-year-old duke’s book is already finished. “I think we’re going to see Charles once more in the firing line.”
The Invictus Games founder announced his plans to write a book in July, confirming in a press release that the memoir will hit stores late next year. “I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” the prince said in a statement at the time. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the course of my life so far and excited for people to read a firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”
After news of the book broke, a source told Us that the royal family is already concerned about what Harry might say. “They haven’t received a copy yet and don’t know what to expect,” the insider said. “It’s making them nervous.”
According to Morton, Charles, 72, will be “looking for a hard hat” after the memoir’s publication. “The thing about Harry is that if you ask him a straight question, he’ll give you a straight answer,” adds the author of Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy, which was recently rereleased with additional chapters.
Harry hasn’t commented further on what the book might contain, but the press release from his publisher, Penguin Random House, described it as “the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses and life lessons that have helped shape” the former military pilot.
The as-yet-untitled book is set to cover everything from the prince’s childhood to his career in the army and his present-day life with wife Meghan Markle and their children Archie, 2, and Lili, 4 months.
Despite the potential drama the book might cause, Morton thinks Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, would be pleased by the way he and the Duchess of Sussex, 40, have handled themselves since they stepped down as senior royals in March 2020.
“She would be doing cartwheels,” the Wallis in Love author told Us. “She’d be thrilled. Seeing that Harry has made himself and Meghan independent humanitarians irrespective of what the palace might say, she would have applauded that.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
