King Charles' Latest PR Project Undermines Prince Harry

King Charles III's latest PR project presented an image of the royal family that comes in stark contrast to the one portrayed by his youngest son, Prince Harry, in his record-breaking memoir, Spare, a British royal talk show has heard.

Royal editor Emily Nash told viewers of a newly released episode of The Royal Beat that the affectionate image of the king that was broadcast in the documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year, which aired in Britain over Christmas, will be "interesting to anyone who read Spare" as it "painted a rather different image of the way the royal family interact."

When Harry's memoir was released in January 2023, it became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in history, and presented an unparalleled account of life behind palace walls, referencing a number of royal dramas over the past four decades.

Among the headline grievances listed by Harry in his book was a lack of physical intimacy or affection within the royal family, something he has subsequently said he is conscious not to repeat with his own children.

The prince revealed to readers that he had never received a hug from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and that when his father, Charles, broke the news in 1997 when he was just 12 years old that his mother, Princess Diana, had died, he received only a pat on the knee.

The revelation is also something that the prince's wife Meghan referenced in the couple's 2022 Netflix docuseries. In the show, the duchess told viewers that she was surprised to find future sister-in-law Kate to be unresponsive when hugged at their first meeting.

"It's like I was a hugger, I've always been a hugger," she said. "I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits."

In his recent documentary, Charles was followed by BBC cameras throughout his first full year on the throne, including throughout preparations for his coronation on May 6, 2023.

The footage captured showed the king affectionately joking with eldest son, Prince William, as well as greeting family members with kisses and embraces, including Kate, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and his brother, the Duke of Edinburgh.

"Actually Charles is quite tactile," Nash told The Royal Beat. "We saw it even on the day after he returned to London following the Queen's death. He was out there hugging people in the crowd, something we never saw the late Queen doing, and it was great, I think, to have that insight into that familial interaction, as you say.

"There was that wonderful moment as well between him and William, joking about his fingers," she added. "Which shows again a sense of humor that perhaps people hadn't appreciated beforehand."

In one clip, Charles referenced his swollen fingers which have been commented on numerous times over the years in the press and on social media.

When William had difficulty closing a clasp on the monarch's robes during a coronation rehearsal, Charles joked: "You haven't got sausage fingers like mine!"

The king did not publicly respond to claims made by Harry in Spare, with Buckingham Palace adopting a blanket "no comment" position about the book and interviews undertaken by the prince to promote it.

This, however, did not affect sales of the book. Data released by publishing industry bible, The Bookseller, in January 2024 revealed that in Britain Spare sold 706,978 units in its first 12 months on shelves, becoming the top-selling title of the year.

The Royal Beat is available to stream on True Royalty TV

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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