Prince Harry covers People: ‘I have a beautiful and blessed life’

Can we just stop for a second and recognize that Prince Harry’s book promotion is great? I haven’t seen such an amazing, confessional book promo since… Jessica Simpson, honestly. That’s not a slam! J-Simpson’s memoir was well-received and it sold well, and that’s what will happen with Prince Harry too. Anyway, as you can see, Harry covers this week’s issue of People Magazine. They got an exclusive interview AND an exclusive photoshoot. He looks amazing and he sounds great too. In all of the interviews, Harry has looked younger and unburdened. He’s so happy to finally tell his story! Some highlights from People’s exclusive interview:

Relatable prince: “While I know much of my life may seem unrelatable, I do think most siblings can relate to struggling with comparisons, and my brother and I are no exception.”

What he hopes his family will takeaway from Spare: “I don’t want to tell anyone what to think of it and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It’s a raw account of my life — the good, the bad and everything in between. My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone’s life, well, I can’t think of anything more rewarding than that!”

Diana’s death: “I struggled for years to accept or even speak about my mother’s death. I was unable to process that she was gone. I’m not sure anyone can ever truly have closure when they lose a parent, or anyone for that matter, especially when that grief may be the only thing left of them. The healing process has allowed me to get to a place where I now feel the presence of my mum more than ever before. She’s with me all the time — my guardian angel.”

His two tours in Afghanistan: “I don’t know that you ever fully reconcile the painful elements of being at war. This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I’ve listened to their stories and have shared mine. In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us — the lives lost, the lives taken. But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we’ve saved. It’s a duty, a job, and a service to our country — and having done two tours of duty in Afghanistan for my country, I’ve done all I could to be the best soldier I was trained to be. There’s truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings, but I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy. Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.”

Why he left Salt Island: “My relationship with Meghan has opened my eyes to so much I fear I otherwise would have never fully understood. To this day, I’m doing important and necessary work to understand and address unconscious bias — it’s ever-evolving and requires us to step up and speak out where we can — even when it’s our friends, families or loved ones.”

He wants his kids to know their British family: “I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution — so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy.”

He is where he is meant to be: “I have a beautiful and blessed life — one that comes with a platform, and with it responsibility that Meghan and I plan to use wisely. I feel I am exactly where I am meant to be and exactly where we [my family] are meant to be. I don’t think I could have written this book otherwise.”

[From People]

That last quote made me think of Diana. All of the bitter royal commentators would have you believe that Diana would be aghast by Harry, that she would “force” him to reconcile with and capitulate to the Windsors and… I just don’t think Diana would feel that way at all. Harry is living the life Diana dreamt for herself. I also like what he says about his military life and how he hopes his story can help veterans. The reaction from the British media to the Afghanistan parts of Spare have been incredibly damaging to the veteran community, and Harry wants to refocus and point out: “There’s truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings, but I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy.”

Cover courtesy of People, additional photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Source: Read Full Article