Prince Harry was 26 years old when William married Kate in 2011. Harry had already served one tour in Afghanistan, and he would serve a second tour the following year. The Army had given Harry some distance and perspective on his dysfunctional family, which is apparently a big chunk of Harry’s memoir, Spare. In a new excerpt from Page Six, Harry described his feelings as he watched his older brother marry Kate.
Prince Harry reflects in his new memoir, “Spare,” on saying “goodbye” to his relationship with Prince William when the Prince of Wales married Kate Middleton in 2011.
“The brother I’d escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone — forever. Who could deny it?” Harry writes, per an excerpt obtained by Page Six. “He’d never again be first [and] foremost Willy. We’d never again ride together across the Lesotho countryside with capes blowing behind us. We’d never again share a horsey-smelling cottage while learning to fly. Who shall separate us? Life, that’s who.”
The Duke of Sussex, 38, adds that he found the wedding to be “yet another farewell under this horrid roof” and “another sundering.”
“And I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace, into the eternal partnership they’d pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye,” he continues.
Harry – who served as his brother’s best man in the April 2011 wedding – recalls that the ceremony itself was “mostly a blank in my mind” but remembers Middleton looking “incredible” in her Sarah Burton gown.
It sounds like Harry made his peace, at that moment, with his relationship with William fundamentally changing. He was saying “goodbye” to the two of them, the two brothers united by pain and generational trauma, the two boys who walked behind their mother’s casket. Harry, at the age of 26, understood that William’s new priority would be his wife and children, that everything shifts when someone gets married. It’s in stark contrast to what we’ve heard from a certain violent Other Brother’s PR for years, which is that Harry was never supposed to get married or move away from his “real” partnership with William. Harry was never supposed to stop being William’s “wingman” and scapegoat. William never made his peace with the idea and reality that Harry’s marriage to Meghan meant that Harry’s priorities shifted too.
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- The Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William & Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey 29.04.2011 HRH Prince William & Prince Harry Arriving at the Abbey .,Image: 503718724, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , New York + 1 646-329-6242 or Hamburg + 49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
- 54305, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Friday April 29 2011. Groom Prince William arrives with his best man Prince Harry at Westminster Abbey for the Royal Wedding. Masses of crowds lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge emerge from the church. **NORTH AMERICAN USE ONLY*** Photograph: Ã?©PacificCoastNews.com **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES** UK OFFICE:+44 131 557 7760/7761 US OFFICE:1 310 261 9676,Image: 525057538, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews.com / Avalon
- 54342, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Friday April 29, 2011. Best man Prince Harry waves to the crowd as he makes the journey by carriage procession to Buckingham Palace following the Royal Wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. **NORTH AMERICAN, FRENCH, POLISH AND ITALIAN USE ONLY** Photograph: © Smart Pictures, PacificCoastNews.com **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES** UK OFFICE:+44 131 557 7760/7761 US OFFICE:1 310 261 9676,Image: 525061929, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Smart Pictures, PacificCoastNews.com / Avalon
- Handout photo issued by Clarence House of The Bride and Groom in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after their wedding. . Picture date: Friday April 29, 2011. Wedding. Photo credit should read: Hugo Burnand/Clarence House NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. NO MERCHANDISE OR COMMERCIAL USE
- Handout photo issued by Clarence House of The Bride and Groom in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the centre with attendants, (clockwise from bottom right) The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Miss Eliza Lopes, Miss Grace van Cutsem, Lady Louise Windsor, Master Tom Pettifer, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton. . Picture date: Friday April 29, 2011. Wedding. Photo credit should read: Hugo Burnand/Clarence House NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. NO MERCHANDISE OR COMMERCIAL USE
- Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, leaving the Abbey in a horse drawn carriage The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton – The Mall Departures London, England – 29.04.11 Where: London, United Kingdom When: 29 Apr 2011 Credit: Zak Hussein/WENN.com **Not available for publication in France**
- The Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Westminster Abbey, London. London, England – 29.04.11 Where: London, United Kingdom When: 29 Apr 2011 Credit: WENN **Only available for publication in UK, USA**
