On January 10, 2023, the book “Spare” was released: the memoirs of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, a member of the British royal family (it was published immediately in 16 languages, and the Spanish version appeared by mistake even earlier). Shortly before its release, the media began publishing excerpts from this edition, so the book was eagerly awaited: recent events, the change of the monarch, have increased the interest in the British crown that has not waned.

Details from the life of the royal family from Prince Harry: the whole world reads.

The world knowingly waited for revelations and shocking details. Indeed, less than a month had passed since the publication, and strong statements appeared in the press: mainly distrust was expressed in many of the facts outlined in Spare, and the author himself was already getting hit by opponents (according to the first survey, two-thirds condemn the author for too much frankness).

Today, Bemorepanda presents readers with 45 fragments of the sensational book: the prince's memoirs in Russian have yet to be available, so let's get acquainted with the text from excerpts from it.

1. Almost every member of the royal family has a nickname or nickname:

Prince William - "Willie" Katherine, Princess of Wales - "Kate" The king is "Pa." Princess Diana was "mother." The Queen and Prince Philip are "grandmother" and "grandfather." The Queen Mother was "Gan-Gan." Princess Margaret was "Aunt Margot." Princess Eugenie - "Yuge".

And Harry? He has a lot of nicknames. He is called "Harold" by his family (although his father also calls him "dear boy"). Palace staff calls him "Skinny." Megan calls him "Haz." His friends call him: "Spike," "Baz," and "Prince Shakaru" ("Spike" was also the codename used by Harry's bodyguards).

The King wanted to name Harry Albert. Diana convinced him, and this name became one of Harry's middle names.

Harry writes that his father was a fan of Queen Victoria's husband, Albert, and at one point wanted to name his second son after the famous Prince Consort. “Mom stopped him,” he writes. Harry was christened Henry Charles Albert David of Wales.

2. The king regularly takes care of himself:

The king does a daily headstand, which Harry says was prescribed by a physiotherapist and proved to be the only effective remedy for neck and back pain caused by old polo injuries. He also listens to audiobooks (which he calls "storybooks") on a portable CD player (wireless) while taking a bath.

3. Princess Diana loved mango sorbet and bread and butter pudding:

Harry reveals these two facts at various points related to desserts in his book Spare.

4. The king has an unusual favorite tea snack:

Harry writes that his father likes "crackers with some creamy spread [and] crushed basil."

5. Harry loves Opal Fruits and was offended when they changed their name to Starbursts.

He detailed the joy of the days at Eton when students were allowed to choose their sweets. He always chose Opal Fruits and "crumpled them into one huge lump and then put it in his mouth."

“I was very offended when Opal Fruits changed their name to Starburst,” he writes. - Pure heresy. As if Britain had changed its name."

6. The royal family hosted informal dinners at Balmoral, with Prince Philip grilling and the Queen making salad dressing.

. Harry describes one particular journey in the summer of 2001 in his book Spare.

Upon arrival, he writes, “grandfather, who had set off half an hour before us, was already fiddling with his grill at the back of the cabin.” Standing in a "thick cloud of smoke, tears streaming from his eyes," Prince Philip donned a flat hat that he also used as a towel to dry his face and a fly swatter.

"When the venison fillet sizzled, he turned it around with huge tongs and then skewered Cumberland sausages." The Queen's specialty was salad dressing, which she whipped up "heaps." The family (and sometimes the "famous or eminent person" who deserved the invitation) sat at a long table on "creaky straw chairs."

7. It is not customary in the royal family to show the physical side of affection.

“The older generation adhered to an almost complete ban on physical contact,” Harry writes about his family. No hugs, no kisses, no pats. Sometimes, there may be a light touch on the cheeks ... on special occasions. In the book Spare, Harry describes several moments when he wanted to hug his grandmother, the Queen, but in the end, refrained.

One of the rare instances in which members of the royal family backed away from this unofficial policy was when Harry returned home from his first overseas military campaign, he writes. “I think Willie hugged me. I think I kissed Pa on each cheek. Perhaps he also... squeezed my shoulder? To some, from a distance, it would have seemed like a normal family greeting and communication, but to us, it was a dramatic, unprecedented display of physical affection."

8. The Royal Family Unwraps Their Christmas Gifts on Christmas Eve.

Harry describes earlier the moment of unwrapping gifts as "a German tradition that survived the anglicization of the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor." Since the family usually spends Christmas at Sandringham, a large room is set aside for the event, with a large table "covered with a white tablecloth and bearing white name cards."

“According to custom, by nightfall, each of us determines his place, and stands in front of his pile of gifts,” writes Harry. “Then everyone suddenly starts opening them at the same time. Complete freedom of action: dozens of family members speak at the same time, pull the bows and tear the wrapping paper.

9. The king takes a teddy bear with him wherever he goes:

Harry writes that a teddy bear (named Teddy) comforted the king when he was bullied as a child. “Teddy went everywhere with Pa. It was a sad thing, with broken legs, dangling threads, and holes patched here and there.

He looked like I thought Pa would look after the bullies had finished with him. Teddy eloquently expressed, better than Pa ever could, the feeling of loneliness in his childhood," writes Harry.

10. One Christmas, Harry's great-aunt, Princess Margaret, gave him a pen with a rubber fish attached to it:

Harry says it was the smallest gift of all that Christmas, though he does not specify the year, and describes it as "quite indifferent."

11. Harry Never Talked To The King About The (Incorrect) Rumors That James Hewitt Is His Real Father.

It has long been rumored that Harry is not the child of the King and Diana but of one of his mother's former lovers, Major James Hewitt (who, like Harry, has red hair). “Never mind that my mother did not meet Major Hewitt until after I was born, this story was too good to pass up,” he writes.

“To this day, almost every biography of mine, every long story in a newspaper or magazine, mentions Major Hewitt, seriously considers the possibility of his paternity, including a description of the moment when Pa finally sat me down at the table for a heart-to-heart talk, reassuring me that Major Hewitt was not my real father. A vivid scene, poignant, touching, and completely fictional. Harry writes that if the king had any thoughts about the rumors and Major Hewitt, "he kept them to himself."

12. Harry's hair has never been the same after friends at Eton shaved him bald:

In his "foolish" decision, Harry allowed his friends to shave his head while he was at Eton. “My hair never fully recovered,” he writes. “Some strands rose like summer grass; some lay flat like varnished hay.” His resemblance to the echidna gave rise to the nickname "Spike."

13. Harry doesn't like beer.

Although Harry writes about drinking a lot of beer as a teenager, in the middle part of the book, which describes his military service, he says that he is not a big fan of this drink. “Everyone was given exactly two cans. No more,” he writes about the peacekeeping mission in the army after serving in Afghanistan. “I didn't like beer, so I gave my can to a soldier who looked like he needed it more than me. He reacted as if I had given him a Rolex.”

14. Harry never dated Cameron Diaz.

In Spare, Harry complains about the sheer amount of fiction being published about him in exclusive stories and unauthorized biographies. “Books about me describe my love life, savoring every romantic failure or slip. I think I remember one that detailed my flirtation with Cameron Diaz."

In that book, he said, the author wrote that the prince could not imagine being paired with an actress. “I couldn’t, because we never met. I have never been closer than fifty meters from Miss Diaz, which proves once again that if you like to read complete nonsense, then royal biographies are what you need.

15. The queen's corgis lived in clover - and often "mortgaged" the king and Harry.

“My mom used to say that being around grandma and corgis was like trying to stand on a moving carpet, and I knew most of them, dead and alive, like my cousins,” writes Harry. At Balmoral, the Queen and the Corgis often took the elevator to her second-floor bedroom, which Harry said the Corgis liked better.

Harry writes that he and his father are both sensitive to heat, and they suffered particularly when the royal family dined in Sandringham's "sub-tropical" formal dining room.

According to him, he and his father waited for the queen to turn away, and “then one of us jumped up, ran to the window, and pushed its shutters an inch. Ah, the blessedly cool air." But corgis have always betrayed us. The cool air made them whine, and Grandmother would say, "Is there a draft?" And then the footman quickly closed the window.

16. The widely reported story that William received Princess Diana's engagement ring from Harry to propose to Kate is not valid.

“There were florid stories in the newspapers about how I realized that Willie and Kate were a good match for each other, how I appreciated the depth of their love and therefore decided to give Willie a ring that I inherited from my mother, the legendary sapphire: such a touching moment of the relationship between brothers and mom that unites the three of us, and absolute nonsense: none of this has ever happened, ”writes Harry.

According to him, William already had the ring. "He asked for it after my mom died, and I was thrilled to give it away."

17. Harry thought he would get married and have children before William.

“I always assumed that I would be the first of us to get married because I wanted it so badly,” he writes in his memoir about the preparations for the wedding of William and Kate. The King was 35 years old when Harry was born, and Harry wanted to be a younger and more active father.

18. Harry and William weren't each other's best men at their weddings.

Harry writes that this "blatant lie" was invented by the Palace and released to the press because "the public expected [it]." In addition, Harry notes, “In truth, Willie didn't want me to give the best man's speech. He did not consider it safe to hand me a microphone and create a situation where I could deviate from the script. I could say something wildly inappropriate. He wasn't wrong."

William's friends, James and Thomas, were his best men. Harry's absolute best man was his "old pal Charlie."

19. The King and Queen Consort wanted Kate to change the spelling of her name.

Harry said that when his brother's wife entered the family, and joined Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; they decided that "there are already two royal monograms with the letter "C" and a crown above it" and "it would be too difficult to get another. " They suggested that Kate (née Katherine Elizabeth Middleton) change her name to Katherine with a "K."

20. The Queen was a big fan of Kate's hairstyle.

Harry writes that both the current king and the former queen preferred women to wear their hair loose. "[Grandma] often commented on Kate's 'beautiful mane,'" writes Harry.

21. Meghan Didn't know Google Harry And The Royal Family While They Were Dating.

The Duchess of Sussex made this (seemingly unrealistic, to tell the truth) statement in an interview with Oprah and the Netflix movie Harry & Meghan, and the Duke of Sussex confirms in his memoir that it's true.

“I was pretty sure she wasn’t looking online because she kept asking questions,” writes Harry. “She seemed to know next to nothing—it’s so inspiring.” When Meghan first met the Queen, she didn't recognize Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and thought he was the Queen's aide because he carried his mother's purse to the car. "She didn't google us," Harry concludes.

22. Harry regretted that he googled Meghan's erotic scenes from Suits.

“I made the mistake of googling and looking up some of her love scenes online,” Harry admits in the book Spare. “I witnessed how she and her teammate beat each other in some office or conference room ... It would take electroshock therapy to get these images out of my head.”

23. William and Kate were Suits fans and couldn't believe Harry was dating an actress from the show.

Harry writes that . “Their mouths were open. They turned to each other.

Then Willie turned to me and said: Hey, fuck off! Harry writes that he was "bewildered" until "Willie and Kate explained that they were regular - one might say fanatical - viewers of the series." Harry jokes that at first, he was afraid that the Cambridges would not accept Meghan in the family, but now he is worried "that they will beg for an autograph."

24. Harry borrowed a Mad Max costume from his friend Tom Hardy for a Halloween party he attended with Meghan.

During one of Harry's visits to Toronto to Meghan in October 2016, they planned to attend a Halloween party with his cousin Eugenia, her then-boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, and Meghan's friend Marcus. In the book Spare, Harry hints that this was the first "masquerade party" he attended after the infamous Nazi uniform incident.

“I turned to a friend, actor Tom Hardy, for help choosing a costume before I even left home,” says Harry. “I called him and asked if I could borrow his Mad Max costume. Whole? Yes, please buddy! The whole set. He gave it all to me before I left Britain." Harry writes that Meghan was "sobbing with laughter" when he first showed her the costume.

25. Meghan left her rescue dog, Bogart, in Canada when she moved to London because he became overprotective of her.

After it became known that Meghan and Harry were dating, the press attacked her home in Toronto, trying to enter, constantly knocking on the door and ringing, writes Harry. This turmoil took a toll on one of Meghan's dogs, Bogart, and she had to leave him in Canada when she moved to the UK.

“He was so traumatized by the siege of her house, the constant ringing at the door, that his behavior changed when Meg was around. He became an aggressive guard dog. Meg's neighbors kindly agreed to adopt him."

26. Harry dreamed of a dog for most of his adult life until meeting Meghan.

“I wanted to get a dog for so long, but I never got the chance because I was such a nomad,” writes Harry. He became especially attached to Megan's rescued beagle Guy, and in early 2018 they brought home a black Labrador puppy named Pula, which means "rain" and "luck" in the Setswana language. (In August 2022, Harry and Meghan adopted a third dog into their family, a beagle named Mamma Mia, who was rescued from a medical testing facility.)

27. Camilla Turned Harry's Bedroom Into A Dressing Room When He Left Clarence House.

Harry reveals this juicy information by describing Meghan's first meeting with his father, the king. He told his then-girlfriend that he lived at Clarence House from 19 to 28. “After I moved out, Camille turned my bedroom into her dressing room,” he said. I tried not to pay attention. But when I saw it for the first time, it became… I don’t care.”

28. William has repeatedly warned Harry about his relationship with Meghan - in strong terms

“He was always depressed that I was dating Meg at all,” writes Harry in Spare. One day, sitting with me in his garden, he predicted the many difficulties that might await me if I got along with "American actress" - a phrase that he always managed to translate as "convicted criminal."

When the brothers visited their mother's grave in 2017, on the 20th anniversary of her death, William disputed Harry's claim that Diana helped him find Meghan: "Well, now Harold, I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't say that."

Moreover, when Harry told William that he planned to propose, his brother warned against it, saying that Harry was acting "too fast." However, he didn't mind when Harry took the diamonds from one of their mother's bracelets to make Meghan's engagement ring, noting that William "seemed to like Meg despite his misgivings."

29. When Harry asks the Queen for permission to marry Meghan, she replies: “I guess I should say yes.”

Under the terms of the 2013 Succession to the Throne Act, Harry, as one of the first six people in line to the throne, had to obtain the Queen's permission before marrying Meghan. Harry writes that he was incredibly nervous before asking the question and waited until the family trip to the Sandringham shoot, as "shooting always puts Grandma in a good mood."

He managed to be alone with the Queen after a day of filming and nervously asked her permission to propose, mentioning in his request that he and the Queen's staff had warned him that the monarch's permission was required.

“I stared at her face, but it was impenetrable,” he writes. Finally, she said, “Well then, I guess I should say yes.” Harry said he "didn't understand" why the queen said that. Was she being sarcastic? Ironic? Intentionally cryptic? Or was it a play on words? In the end, he decided it didn't matter because she said yes, and although he wanted to hug her, he refrained.

30. The King helped Harry and Meghan choose the music for their wedding.

Harry dedicates an entire chapter of the book to the evening he and Meghan spent at Clarence House with the King while planning their wedding. "He fully supported our desire to invite an orchestra rather than an organist and played several works for us with different performers to cheer us up."

. “When one piece ended, he quickly reset his player, and began to hum or tap his foot in time with the next.

He was light, witty, charming, and I kept shaking my head in surprise.” Harry writes that he knew his father liked music, but before

He was light, witty, charming, and I kept shaking my head in surprise.” Harry writes that he knew his father loved music, but he didn't know until that point that "he loves it that much." Harry credited Meghan for this.

“She awakened so many qualities in him that I rarely saw. Pa became a boy in her presence. I saw it, I saw the connection between them growing stronger, and I felt my connection with him growing stronger.”

31. The Queen allowed Harry to keep his beard at the wedding (to the annoyance of William, who threatened to grab Harry and shave him if he got too drunk at the bachelor party)

“After I asked my grandmother for permission to marry Meg, I thought I would never have the courage to ask her for anything else,” writes Harry in Spare. - And yet I dared to ask her one more request: "Grandma, please, can I leave a beard for the wedding?"

And this is not a small request. Some felt that the beard was a clear violation of protocol and long tradition, especially since I got married in an army uniform.” Harry said that Meghan has never seen him without a beard and having a beard helps him deal with the excitement. When he explained this to the Queen, she said she understood him, adding that "her husband liked to play pranks sometimes."

Harry said it upset his brother, who was rumored to have been told to shave off his beard when he grew it out while in the Special Forces. William was angered that Harry had asked the Queen for permission, and, as Harry writes, "at one point [William] ordered me, as the Heir to the Throne, ordering the lowest in rank, to shave." (Harry writes that part of the dissatisfaction with the beard was because he was allowed to wear a military uniform, which William would like to wear when he married Kate).

According to Harry, at the bachelor party, he was afraid that if he "got too drunk and passed out, Willie and his buddies would twist me and shave me." As it turned out, it was a well-founded fear. "Willie told me straight out, in all seriousness, that this was his plan."

32. At first, Meghan was going to wear the Spencer tiara (which Princess Diana famously wore) to the wedding, but then the Queen offered to lend her one from the royal collection.

Harry's aunts (Diana's sisters) were first asked if Meghan wanted to wear the Spencer tiara that Diana wore on her wedding day. “We were both touched,” writes Harry. “Then Meg spent many hours with the designer, matching the veil to match the tiara and with a similar wavy edge.”

However, shortly before the wedding, "Grandma got in touch" to suggest Harry and Meghan "take a look at her tiara collection." She invited them to Buckingham Palace to try on several options, and Harry described it as "an extraordinary morning."

“We entered my grandmother’s private dressing room, Harry. “Along with my grandmother was a jewelry expert, an eminent historian who knew the pedigree of every stone in the royal collection.”

Angela Kelly, "cloakroom attendant and confidant of the Queen," was also there. The Queen chose five tiaras as options: “One was all emeralds. One was aquamarine. Each one was more dazzling and stunning than the previous one."

Meghan and the Queen had a special moment, writes Harry. “Grandma said to Meg very gently: “tiaras suit you.” - Meg melted: "Thank you, ma'am." In the end, one of the five (Queen Mary's tiara) fit best, "seemed to be made for Meg," says Harry. They left the palace with a feeling of "admiration, love, and gratitude."

33. There was a problem getting a tiara from the Queen's cloakroom attendant Angela Kelly so Meghan could practice styling her hair with her hairdresser.

The saga of Harry, Meghan, and the bridal tiara has become such tabloid material that royal correspondents have dubbed it Tiaragate.

Reports claimed that Meghan was denied a first tiara choice and that she and Harry threw a tantrum when the chosen tiara was not provided on demand so Meghan could rehearse the hairstyle. In the book, Harry paints Kelly as an "unintelligent gatekeeper," ignoring requests and unnecessarily denying the couple access to the tiara out of spite, and implies that she was the source of the negative (and false, he says) stories in the media.

“Installing the tiara was a complex, elaborate process,” writes Harry. “First, it had to be sewn to the veil, then Meg's hairdresser had to fasten it to a little pigtail in her hair. Difficult, long – we would need at least one dress rehearsal.”

Kelly, he said, "obstacles" and when she finally handed over the tiara, "her eyes burned with fire. ... She stared at me with a look that made me tremble. I could read a clear warning on her face: this is not the end."

34. Harry and Meghan did have a private, informal wedding "ceremony" in their garden a few days before the big royal wedding.

Meghan revealed this to Oprah Winfrey in an interview in March 2021, and the British press quickly verified the claim, and said it was legally impossible (A quick Google search will reveal that this was information that was widely reported in the media after the interview).

But Harry writes in Spare that a few days before the royal wedding, their confessor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, held a "little ceremony" in Harry and Meghan's garden, "only the two of us, [dogs] Guy and Poole, are the only witnesses." He describes the ceremony as "informal, non-committal, just for fun."

"We were grateful to every person in and around St. George's and the TV viewers, but our love started in private, and publicity was mostly a torment, so we wanted the first consecration of our love, the first vows to be private as well."

35. Meghan's engagement ring used the last piece of fine Welsh gold that has gone on for generations of royal engagement rings.

For generations, members of the royal family have made their wedding rings from rare Welsh gold. The tradition began in 1923 when gold from the Clogau St. Davids mine was donated to Windsor House.

This gold was used to make an engagement ring for Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future wife of King George VI, and then a call for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. The Clogau website details all of the royal brides who wore Welsh gold wedding bands in later years (as well as instances where a lot of gold was given to the royal family).

In the book Spare, Harry claims that Meghan and Kate's rings were forged from the same ingot donated in 1923. Gold is first mentioned in his account of William and Kate's wedding, as he held the call until the groom put it on the bride's finger.

“A thin strip of Welsh gold taken from a bar donated to the royal family almost a century before. The same gold was used to make a ring for my grandmother when she got married and for Princess Margaret, but as I heard, it was almost finished. By the time I get married,”

Fortunately, there was enough gold to make Meghan's engagement ring. “Grandma told me it was almost the last [gold],” he writes. - The last gold. That's how I felt about Meg."

36. William and Kate didn't sit in their assigned seats at Harry and Meghan's wedding reception - though they claimed they didn't move the cards on the table

When the Cambridges and Sussexes held their first big, very tense meeting to 'clear things up,' this was one of the grievances Harry and Meghan wanted to discuss. (This was the much-publicized meeting: when Kate wanted Meghan to apologize for calling her brain "baby" after the birth of her third child, Prince Louis.)

“We weren't too happy when Willie and Kate switched cards and seats at our wedding. We followed the American tradition of seating couples next to each other, but Willie and Kate didn't like this tradition, so their table was the only one where the team sat separately. They insisted that it was not they who decided this, but someone else.

37. Meghan cracked a joke that sparked a tense moment during one of her first significant royal events.

Harry writes that shortly after he and Meghan returned from their honeymoon, it was time for the Queen's official birthday party, Trooping the Colour. At this event, they first appeared in public as newlyweds. “Everyone present was in high spirits,” he writes. “But then Kate asked Meg what she thought of her first Trooping the Color ceremony. And Meg joked: "Colorful ... I thought we would drown in the silence."

38. Meghan and Kate "got on the wrong foot" because of a misunderstanding about fashion preferences

At the same meeting "to defuse the situation," Meghan suggested that some of the "tension" between the Cambridges and the Sussexes may be related to a misunderstanding that arose when she first entered the royal family, and because of which the two royal wives "got up with that leg, maybe. Harry writes: “Kate thought Meg wanted her fashion contacts. But Meg had her acquaintances."

39. Harry and Meghan did tell the royal family they were pregnant at Princess Eugenie's wedding.

This revelation was one of the few times in the book that Harry confirmed a story previously reported in the British media. The Duke pays no attention. Harry told the King, William, and Kate about this at Windsor during a drink reception organized for Eugenie and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank.

40. Harry and Meghan offered to give up their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex in January 2020

Since Harry and Meghan announced their decision to retire from life as acting royalty, there have been public calls to strip them of their titles (the UK Parliament will have to get involved in some way).

However, in the book Spare, Harry reveals that he offered to drop them in the first letter he sent to the king about his and Meghan's plan to lead a less public life. “I kept saying we are willing to make any sacrifice to find peace and security, including relinquishing the Sussex titles,” he writes.

41. Tyler Perry said he helped Meghan and Harry when they needed housing and security because his mother loved Princess Diana

In the Netflix movie Harry & Meghan, the Sussexes detail how Perry flew the couple and their son from Canada to Los Angeles on his private jet and housed them (including security). At the same time, they got back on their feet, but in the book, Harry recounts why the actor, screenwriter, and director made such a decision regarding people he barely knew.

“I asked him why he did that. "My mother... loved your mother." I was surprised. He said, “. According to Maxine Perry, she was perfect and couldn't be wrong."

42. Harry - instead of a doctor or midwife - adopted his daughter Lilibet when she was born

The Duke made this decision when his wife was already in labor. “When the doctor said it was a matter of minutes, I told Meg that I wanted my face to be the first one our little girl sees,” he writes. The doctor put Harry in the right place and helped him when the baby was born. “I slipped my hands under the tiny back and neck. Gently but firmly, like in the movies, I pulled our precious daughter out of that world and into this one." Later, writes Harry, Meghan told him that she "had never been so in love with him as at that moment."

43. When the Queen met Harry's daughter Lilibet (and saw Archie again) in the summer of 2022, Harry decided she expected to see more "American" children.

44. Harry describes his family's last visit to the Queen's Grandmother at the end of the book, writing that he "couldn't stop imagining [his children] with their grandmother" when he returned to California after her funeral.

“Archie makes deep, chivalrous bows, his younger sister Lilibet hugging the monarch’s knees. Dearest children, Grandmother said in bewilderment. She expected them to be a little more... American, I guess? That is, in her opinion, more violent.

45. Harry says he learned of the Queen's death from BBC reports after his plane landed in Scotland.

In Spare, Harry writes that when he received word that the Queen's health was deteriorating, he contacted William to find out how his brother was getting to Scotland but never received a response (it turned out that William and other members royal family took off on a military flight, arriving a few hours before Harry).

After being told by his father that Meghan wasn't welcome here, Harry boarded a charter flight and, according to him, was in the air when his grandmother died. “When the plane started descending, my phone turned on. Message from Meg: "Call me as soon as you get it." I checked the BBC website. Grandma was gone. The pope became king."

Royal Sources disputed the Duke of Sussex's account, arguing that the King ensured that all royal family members knew about it before the announcement was made.

Before Her death, Elizabeth II lost her best friend, partner and devoted subject - her husband Prince Philip. He died on 9 April 2021 at Windsor Castle. After that, Her Majesty's health also gradually began to "surrender", until September 8, she joined her husband.

The love story of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip

The couple have been married for 73 years! They celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary together, but unfortunately he missed her platinum reign anniversary in 2022. What was their love story? What did the Prince give up to claim the queen's heart? How, despite the future crown, she swore an oath to her husband to obey and be faithful to him in everything?

Origin of Philip

Prince Philip VI was born on June 10, 1921 at the Mon Repos Palace on the Greek island of Corfu. He was the fifth child in the family and the only son of Prince Andrew, the son of King George I of Greece and the younger brother of King Constantine I. From birth he bore the title of Prince of Greece and Denmark. His relatives had a sad story, because his grandfather, King George I of Greece, was killed in 1913, his uncle was overthrown from the throne, and his father fell into depression after losing all his regalia and was forced to flee Greece with his family to Paris.

Subsequently, Philip's parents divorced and the children stayed with their mother, and his father moved to Monte Carlo to arrange his personal life. After all the trials of life, Prince Philip's mother very soon went crazy and ended up in a mental hospital. Therefore, his father took Philip to him and placed him in a private school. The guy had a tense and difficult relationship with him, so a few years later he went to England on his own and stayed with relatives, where he soon met his love.

Meeting each other

For the first time, the future spouses met at the wedding of the Greek Princess Marina, which took place in Westminster Abbey. At that time, Elizabeth was 8 years old, and her chosen one Philip was 13. After that, they did not see each other for 3 years. We met for the second time at the coronation of the father of Elizabeth II. However, even then no relationship between Elizabeth II and Philip began.

But one day she, along with her parents and sister, arrived at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. There, the son of the Greek Prince Andrew served and agreed to give the royal family a tour of the educational institution. At this time, the princess realized that she had fallen in love. She was thirteen years old. After the meeting, she began to correspond with the guy during his service in the Royal Navy. The parents of Elizabeth II were looking for their daughter a much better candidate for a husband, so Philip was not even considered as a son-in-law. But later the young man went to the front, where the feeling of the couple only strengthened.

The lovers were relatives

Interestingly, Philip and Elizabeth II were indeed relatives. This is not uncommon in royal families, so in this case, fate played an interesting joke. Queen Victoria was the common grandmother of the lovers, so they were fourth cousins. And even this fact could not prevent them from getting married and living in marriage many happy moments, namely, 73 years.

Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip

The palace officially announced the couple's engagement in July 1947, and on November 20 they got married at Westminster Abbey. The event took place in the difficult post-war period, when the country's economy, like many other European countries, suffered greatly, so the princess had a modest budget for the wedding. Yes, and the girl herself believed that chic in the post-war period was unacceptable. Therefore, Elizabeth acquired the material for her wedding dress using food stamps from the Second World War.

Interestingly, British subjects also sent coupons to Elizabeth, but the palace returned each of them, as members of the royal family are not allowed to accept gifts from the public. However, she was helped by the British government, which provided the princess with an additional 200 food coupons. In the end, Elizabeth married Prince Philip wearing a magical wedding dress made from Chinese silk by Norman Gartnell.

Elizabeth's relatives were against the wedding

Elizabeth married exclusively at the call of her heart, and not according to royal protocol. Queen's father George VI considered the young man not the best choice for his daughter and heir to the throne, but the princess insisted on him. When Philip returned from the front, the native princesses realized that it was useless to prevent her from marrying her chosen one.

Despite the fact that the couple is one of the most famous in the world, there is no exact information about the recognition of Philip. Rumor has it that he wrote a confession in one of the letters to his beloved, or Elizabeth II herself asked the prince to marry her. By the time of the wedding, Philip was 26 years old, and Elizabeth was 21. There was a 5-year difference between the couple. Importantly, the couple's wedding took place 4 years before the death of King George VI, the girl's father, and 5 years before her coronation.

He - refused titles, and she - gave him an oath

On the eve of his marriage to the Princess, Philip received the title of Duke of Edinburgh. He also converted to Anglicanism, renounced the titles of Prince of Greece and Prince of Denmark, and received British citizenship. The princess was then 21 years old, and her husband was 26 years old.

To thank the man for his devotion and love, at the marriage ceremony, Princess Elizabeth took an oath in which she promised to obey her husband. Although she shouldn't have said that as a future queen. This somewhat confused the guests present, because everyone understood that when the princess became queen, Philip would have to obey her. After the coronation, he really always was "zade" her, however, despite all the difficulties, he lived a long and happy marriage with her, raising four children.

Children

A year after the wedding, Elizabeth gave birth to Prince Charles, the main heir to the crown, and two years later, Princess Anne. Prince Andrew was born 10 years later, and Prince Edward 4 years later. Of all four children, the youngest Prince Edward had a happy marriage right away - he has been married to Countess Sophie for 22 years. But all the rest had one divorce each, but later found their soul mates. Only Prince Andrew remained a hermit, who last year was accused of a sex scandal and stripped of all military ranks for this.

Cheating and the risk of divorce

However, the life of the queen and her husband was not always the fairy tale of the movies. There was a place for possible betrayals, scandals and insults. It was rumored in the British media that a year after the wedding with Elizabeth, Philip began to be suspected of secret relationships with actress Pat Kirkwood. The Queen was pregnant with her first child at the time. Journalists also said that Philip was in love with Helen Korday, whom he was friends with as a child, but they were separated when the boy went to study at Dartmouth. She got married, which broke the guy's heart, but later divorced. She had two children, but did not name her father, so there were rumors that it could be Philip. Curiously, he was their godfather.

Also, Prince Philip was credited with novels with writer Daphne Du Maurier, actress Merle Oberon, TV presenter Katie Boyle and even with Prince Stephen Ward. A few years after their marriage, the couple allegedly began sleeping in separate rooms, and secret hearings were held in Parliament to prevent a scandalous divorce. These facts will be confirmed or refuted only after 100 years under the British legislation on the classification of archives.

Back in the mid-1980s, Prince Philip made a loud statement to his biographer Basil Boothroyd that he married Elizabeth allegedly not out of high feelings, but out of calculation. Because he did not have a fortune after a complicated history with his family. The queen herself was losing her mind from an attractive and young prince.

Death of Philip, and later of the Queen

Britain's Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time of his death, the Duke of Edinburgh was 99 years old. In February, Prince Philip was hospitalized due to a deterioration in health. He stayed in the hospital for almost a month, underwent heart surgery, but could not overcome the disease. Beloved of Her Majesty died 2 months before his 100th birthday.

The coronation of the eldest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, who took the name of Charles III after succession to the throne, will be one of the year's most meaningful events.

The ceremony of accession to the throne of British monarchs has many curious details

His mother once ascended the throne during the British Empire, and Winston Churchill himself was her first prime minister. The latest is Liz Truss, elected to this post in the fall of 2022.

Elizabeth II ruled longer than the rest of her predecessors - 70 years. During this time, her own country and the world as a whole have completely changed. Charles must become the king of the new Great Britain, opening the next page of its history.

How to pronounce the throne name of Prince Charles as king?

British monarchs have certain rules for the succession of throne names. They can choose one of their middle names as it. The full name of the new king is Charles Philip Arthur George.

Initially, it was assumed that he would be called George, that is, George. This is how he would express his devotion to his grandmother and her reverence for George VI. However, in the end, the future monarch decided to leave his name.

Withh the same name - in the 17th century, Charles I and Charles II. The first ended his life on the chopping block. The second, 11 years after his father's death, was able to return England from a republic to a monarchy and rule for 25 years. Under him, the country was severely affected by the plague and the fire in London.

Where and when will the coronation of Charles III take place?

Buckingham Palace has announced that the coronation of Charles III will take place on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey, in the same place where his mother first tried on the crown in the early 1950s. In this place, for 900 years, the British heirs officially ascended the throne.

It is expected that this will become one of the year's most solemn and memorable events. The event will be televised live. This will be the second time in the history of the British monarchy that millions will see the coronation.

For centuries, the coronation was considered a sacrament, so only persons close to the court could see it. However, Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne in 1952, made this event public. Her ascension to the throne was televised for the first time in history. To many at court, this seemed savage. But today, we can see how the coronation of the longest-reigning British queen occurred. Then the broadcast was watched by more than 27 million viewers, and about 8 thousand high-ranking guests were invited to the celebration.

Why does the coronation have to wait almost a year after the death of Elizabeth II?

According to tradition, the coronation of a new monarch is held at different time intervals after the death of the previous one. This is because the solemn event does not fall during mourning. In addition, a pompous procession requires careful preparation of all participants and significant expenses.

So, Elizabeth II officially took up her duties immediately after her father's death, George VI, in February 1952, but was crowned only in June 1953. That is after 16 months. This was partly due to the economic crisis in the country. There is a legend that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill personally asked the Queen to postpone the ceremony so as not to waste "a single working day" on regulating the situation in the country.

At the same time, in the history of the United Kingdom, there were cases when the coronation of the reigning monarch took place almost 15 years after the beginning of the reign. We are talking about King Edgar the Peaceful, who led the state in the 10th century. And although during his reign, the country did not fight with anyone, he discredited himself with a relationship with a nun, in union with whom his daughter was born. For this reason, his closest adviser and abbot, Dunstan, who had more power than the monarch himself, refused to crown him only after the death of Saint Edgar was they anointed king.

But Harold II, on the contrary, ascended the throne precisely on the day of the death of his predecessor, Edward the Confessor.

However, on average, the coronation of a new monarch should take place a few weeks after the death of the previous ruler. During this period,

How will the coronation of Charles III take place?

The coronation of Charles III was codenamed Operation Golden Sphere. The details of the event are being kept under wraps.

The ceremony will occur according to established traditions that have remained unchanged for centuries. However, some assumptions are still quite possible. The celebration is expected to be shorter in time, more diverse, and include a narrow circle of VIPs. At the same time, ancient rituals will coexist with modern elements, including some of the innovations of Elizabeth II.

"The coronation will reflect the monarch's role today and in the future, with a long tradition and befitting splendor," Buckingham Palace said.

It is known that his wife Camilla will be present next to Charles III. Prince William and Princess Kate of Wales will also actively participate in the ceremony. Moreover, according to anonymous sources close to the royal family, William and Camilla will play an essential role in the coronation process.

Whether Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will attend the celebration is unknown. Despite the controversy, Charles III planned to invite his grandson and wife. Still, after the release on December 8, 2022, of the documentary "Harry and Meghan" on Netflix about the scandalous revelations of their life in the palace and the leakage of excerpts from the memoirs "Spare" Sussex, the decision was canceled. Moreover, the future monarch granted new honorary titles to Prince William, his wife Kate, and Queen Consort Camilla. Curiously, the coronation date coincides with the fourth birthday of Archie, Harry and Meghan's son.

It is expected that the duration of the event will be about an hour instead of three, as was the case at the solemn ceremony of his mother's entry, Elizabeth II.

“It will be shorter and simpler than in 1953 but absolutely the same in scale and spectacle, consistent with sovereignty, history, and tradition,” the spokesman explained.

The list of guests, mainly the rest of the Windsor dynasty, has yet to be disclosed.

With what regalia is Charles III crowned?

The British monarch has a lot of jewelry at his disposal, but special regalia is used for the coronation, which is usually displayed in the Tower.

On the day of the celebration, Charles III and his wife from Buckingham Palace will head to Westminster Abbey on the golden carriage of George III. This carriage has traditionally been used for anniversaries and coronations for 260 years, including Elizabeth II. The weight of the carriage is almost 4 tons, so only a team of eight horses can set it in motion. It is known that moving in a carriage is very inconvenient because the passengers are wildly shaking. But a vintage vehicle will allow ordinary citizens to see Charles III and his wife from close range. Britons are expected to line the streets to greet the new monarch.

Upon the arrival of Charles III, staff will follow him to adjust the velvet mantle of ermine, 5 meters long and weighing 13 kilograms, at the right time. Last time, seven ladies-in-waiting helped his mother carry the train.

Accompanied by his entourage and the guests who have already gathered on both sides, the king will follow to the throne of King Edward. By the way, until 1996, the Skoon Stone was built into it, which. After being handed over to Scotland, the relic is kept at Edinburgh Castle on the condition that it be used for future coronations. Whether they will bring him on this occasion is still being determined.

Then, at the altar, Charles III will take a sacred oath in which he will swear to defend justice, law, and the Anglican Church, after which the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will perform an ancient rite and anoint his head with oil. For anointing, a golden ampoule will be used, a vessel in the shape of an eagle with spread wings, and a silver spoon with gilding and inlaid with pearls.

And finally, after pronouncing the oath, Charles III will be presented with the symbols of the British monarchy - the scepter (in the right hand) and the orb (in the left hand). On his head, they will crown the golden crown of St. Edward the Confessor, weighing 2.2 kilograms and decorated with more than 400 precious stones.

. According to Elizabeth II, wearing a crown was very difficult, but she was lucky that she and her father had a similar skull shape, so any crown on her sat like a glove.

“You can't look down while reading a speech. You have to raise the text to your eyes. Otherwise, you will break your neck, and it will fall, ”she explained.

Other symbols of the British monarchy will also be displayed during the ceremonial procession. For example, a sizeable sovereign sword (Sword of State) weighing 24 kilograms with a golden handle made of roses and thistles (emblems of England and Scotland), a sacrificial sword (Sword of Offering), a sword of spiritual justice (Sword of Spiritual Justice), a sword of worldly justice (Sword of Temporal Justice) and the sword of mercy (Sword of Mercy).

All coronation relics are decorated with parts of the world's largest Cullinan diamond, also known as the Star of Africa. Because there were cracks in the nugget, it was divided into nine large and 96 small fragments.

No less famous is the yellowish Kohinoor diamond crowning the British crown, which in Persian is called “Mountain of Light.” This stone is over 5 thousand years old. During its history, it has visited the treasuries of Indian, Iranian, and Afghan rulers. By the way, India still claims its rights to it, specifying the stone. True, it is unlikely that their claims will ever be crowned with success, since no king or queen, with all their desire, has the legal right to dispose of the Crown Jewels.

But the red stone that adorns the crown is known as the red ruby of the Black Prince. In the middle of the XIV century, it belonged to the Moorish prince Abu Said, who was killed by the Castilian king Pedro the Cruel. The latter defeated the enemy with the military assistance of the British monarch Edward III, who received the ruby as payment. For a long time, he adorned the knightly helmets of Henry V and Richard III until, in 1661; he was inserted into the crown of St. Edward on the occasion of the ascension to the throne of Charles II.

On the hand of the new ruler, there will likely be a coronation ring topped with a dark blue sapphire with a cross of St. George made of rubies framed by diamonds. The piece of jewelry was created for the coronation of William IV and symbolizes the "marriage of the monarch with the country." He has a more miniature copy ordered by Queen Victoria, whose fingers were so narrow that the original fell off her during the ceremony.

What role will Queen Consort Camilla play in the ceremony?

The British have always disliked the second wife of Prince Charles, considering her a homemaker and even the culprit in the death of Princess Diana. Perhaps the queen also did not have warm feelings for her daughter-in-law. However, at the beginning of 2022, the monarch changed her mind and granted Camilla the title of queen consort instead of the previously promised and humiliating status of princess consort.

The last time this happened was in 1937, when Elizabeth's mother was crowned with her husband, George VI. The husband of Elizabeth herself was never crowned In front of his wife and the monarch. Without restraining his feelings, he kissed her in front of the assembled public and the whole world. The historical moment can still be seen on the recording.

As for what role Camilla will play at the coronation of Charles III remains a mystery. However, it is known that she will also be crowned more straightforwardly to emphasize her new status.

“During the ceremony, His Majesty will be crowned along with the Queen Consort [Camilla],” the document says. “The coronation will reflect the role that the monarchy plays today and the vision for the future, but will also be based on long-standing ceremonial traditions,” Buckingham Palace said in an official statement.

The wife will accompany Karl in the same carriage. Whether she will be wearing any regalia at the ceremony is unknown. Judging by how the husband of Elizabeth II was dressed in a similar situation, In such cases, the Queen is usually supposed to wear either the Queen Mother's crown or the Queen Mary's crown. Still, this time it will not be possible to demonstrate them, given the painful question for India and other countries about the ownership of the Kohinoor diamond.

Since the ceremony will be in a simplified format, Camilla prefers to wear something more lightweight. It will be a gift from the late queen. So, the queen consort has repeatedly appeared in public in the Greville tiara, known as the Honeycomb tiara. She may wear a sapphire brooch of Queen Victoria, whom Elizabeth II loved very much. In addition, Camilla has her Cubitt-Shand family tiara, which she inherited from her mother.

After the event, the king and queen will most likely follow the same route to Buckingham Palace to the congratulatory exclamations of curious spectators. Like Elizabeth and Philip once, they can go out onto the balcony to greet the people again. This will be followed by a coronation banquet, which will bring together members of the royal family, representatives of foreign monarchies, and other dignitaries. The celebration will end either with fireworks or parade flights.