5 things Prince Harry's book taught us about how boring being a royal must be

Everyone’s talking about the bombshell revelations from Prince Harry autobiography Spare, but it’s the smaller details which are just as telling.

The new memoir point is laden with deeply personal talking points: from the duke's teenage drug use, to his time spent on the battlefield in Afghanistan to losing his virginity at the age of 17 round the back of a pub.

Much has also been made about the rift between Harry and Prince William after one excerpt saw Harry claim that he was pushed to the ground by his brother in a dispute over his wife Meghan Markle.

However, there are also moments in the book which, knowingly or not, capture the sheer dullness of being inside the royal circle.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

These are five things from the book which taught us just how boring being a royal must be at times.

Being cut off from reality

Speaking about adapting to life after leaving the royal family officially in 2020, Harry wrote about his time in the royal circle: “I’d been forced into this surreal state, this unending Truman Show in which I almost never carried money, never owned a car, never carried a house key, never once ordered anything online, never received a single box from Amazon, almost never travelled on the Underground.”

Never got the tube or done some late-night Amazon shopping after one too many drinks? Poor old Harry has never lived.

The book is now on sale in the UKLeon Neal/Getty Images

Getting cruddy Christmas presents

Yes, it’s true that the royals live in a palace and enjoy lives of luxury, but some of the Christmas presents sound underwhelming to say the least.

In a passage about Prince Harry’s formidable aunt Princess Margaret, Harry revealed that she once gave him a pen for Christmas. “Oh. A biro. Wow,” he wrote.

Having to ask permission to grow a beard

By the sounds of it, he barely had control over his own facial hair.

Not only did Harry live by the royal code, but he also had to ask permission to grow a beard before his wedding. According to Harry's claims in Spare, William ordered him to shave his beard before getting hitched to Meghan, but the Queen had given him permission to keep his face fuzz for the big day.

Dealing with annoying parking disputes

One passage in Spare sees Prince Harry go into detail about living conditions after moving into Kensington Palace – and the parking situation which clearly still irks him.

After being given an apartment in the “semi-basement of the palace” he wrote that the room had three windows which “let in little light so the difference between sunrise, sunset and noon… was symbolic, to say the least”.

He then spoke about a neighbour whom he dubbed "Mr R" and who he claimed was “very fond” of parking his Land Rover by the windows and blocking out the light.

He recalled asking Mr R to move his car and, in the Spanish version of the book, we are told that the unhappy neighbour “counterattacked with an answer in which he sent me to fry asparagus”. This translates as being told to "go away" in English.

Poor old Harry probably didn't even have the right to cook veg back then.

Having to make pleasantries with your future stepmum

Recalling his father's plans “to be public about” his relationship with his then-partner, now wife, Camilla, Harry revealed that he asked his father not marry her. But, he said, Charles implored both his sons to meet with her.

Following his own meeting with his future stepmother, William "gave me the impression that the Other Woman, Camilla, had made an effort, which he appreciated, and that was all he cared to say,” Harry wrote.

But when Harry himself went to see her, he said she appeared "bored" as they spoke about horses.

Likening the meeting to getting an injection, he wrote: “Close your eyes, over before you know it.”

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.