Bereaved boy, troubled teen, wartime soldier, unhappy royal - many facets of Prince Harry are revealed in his explosive memoir, often in eyebrow-raising detail. From accounts of cocaine use and losing his virginity to raw family rifts, "Spare" exposes deeply personal details about Harry and the wider royal family.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of the Spanish-language edition of the book ahead of its publication around the world on Tuesday. Its revelations have electrified the British media - but have been met with silence from Buckingham Palace.
BROTHER AND SON
The book opens with a quote from American writer William Faulkner: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Harry's story is dominated by his rivalry with elder brother Prince William and the death of the boys' mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.
Harry, who was 12 at the time, has never forgiven the media for Diana's death in a car crash while being pursued by photographers. The loss of his mother haunts the book, which Harry dedicates to wife Meghan, children Archie and Lili "and, of course, my mother." The opening chapter recounts how his father Prince Charles - now King Charles III - broke the news of his mother's accident, but didn't give his son a hug.
Harry reveals that years later he asked his driver to take him through the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, site of the fatal crash, hoping in vain that it would help end a "decade of unrelenting pain. He also says he once consulted a woman who claimed to have "powers" and to be able to pass on messages from Diana.
Harry adds that he and William both "begged" their father not to marry his long-term paramour Camilla Parker-Bowles, worried she would become a "wicked stepmother."
Harry also is tormented by his status as royal "spare" behind William, who is heir to the British throne. Harry recounts a longstanding sibling rivalry that worsened after Harry began a relationship with American actress Meghan Markle, whom he married in 2018.