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Prince Harry Reveals His Dad's 'Favorite Person' and It's Definitely Not Who I Was Expecting

A fresh revelation from my 'Spare' re-read

prince harry spare memoir king charles favorite person hero
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Although the new paperback edition of Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare is notably lacking in any scandalous new details, I took its release as an excuse to give the book a second pass—and lo and behold, I actually did notice something I missed the first time around. In the memoir, the Duke of Sussex recalls a memory with his dad and a certain pasage clued me in that King Charles's favorite person was none other than his own mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

In the book, Prince Harry mentioned making his 'Gan-Gan' laugh on numerous occasions. He shared, "I did, however make her laugh. Normally that was Pa's job; he had a knack for finding Gan-Gan's funny bone. He loved her as much as he loved anybody in the world, perhaps more. I recall him glancing over several times and looking pleased that I was getting such good giggles out of his favorite person." Pass the tissues.

prince harry spare memoir a photo of king charles and queen elizabeth
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It's a nice tidbit to read about father and son, seeing as the book's title was inspired by King Charles labeling Harry the 'spare' after he was born. According to Prince Harry, his father told Princess Diana, "Wonderful! Now you've been given me an heir and a spare—my work is done." Yikes.

Even so, the best seller touches on lighter details about his dad, like how his "Pa" loved to carry around a teddy bear with him everywhere he went. “Teddy went everywhere with Pa,” he wrote. “It was a pitiful object, with broken arms and dangly threads, holes patched up here and there. It looked, I imagined, like Pa might have after the bullies had finished with them. Teddy expressed eloquently, better than Pa ever could, the essential loneliness of his childhood.”

prince harry spare memoir a photo of king charles and queen elizabeth
WPA Pool/Pool/Getty Images

And in regards to King Charles's favorite person, it was no secret how much he adored his mother. As the oldest child and successor to the throne, they shared an unspoken bond.

On the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's death, King Charles penned a personal message on the official royal family's Instagram account. He shared, “In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.” The monarch continued, “I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all.” He signed the post with his typical signature: “Charles R.”

Glad to see there's still much more to discover in the tell-all. Here's your sign to do a re-read—trust me, it's worth it.


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Freelance PureWow Editor


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