Prince Harry might be looking at his Spare memoir differently amid Princess Kate Middleton‘s cancer battle.
“When you do discover that your sister-in-law has cancer and you’ve written stuff that can’t be retracted, that’s quite a painful place to be in,” royal expert Tessa Dunlop exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her book Elizabeth & Philip: A Story of Young Love, Marriage and Monarchy. “I’m not saying it isn’t.”
Dunlop pointed out Harry, 39, and wife Meghan Markle‘s past criticism about the royal family.
“They deliberately criticize the monarchy [and then offer] themselves as an alternative to monarchy. So then when the monarchy is in trouble, we do kind of make a comparison. Can Harry and Meghan really hold themselves off as the caring example now?” she asked. “They’re certainly going to have to be careful of their timing with any releases so that it doesn’t look opportunistic.”
Prince Harry, Kate Middleton. Getty Images(2)
According to Dunlop, Harry and Meghan, 42, will have to tread lightly about what they put out in the public eye, adding, “The big C — it’s kind of untouchable. When that comes creeping in the door, that just reframes everything.”
Kate, 42, confirmed her cancer diagnosis on March 22, two months after she was hospitalized for surgery.
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was noncancerous,” she said in a video posted via social media. “However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.”
A source told Us that Kate received her diagnosis in February, and she and Prince William have been “processing the information” with their kids. (The pair share kids Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.)
“[They] wanted to wait to tell the world the news until their children were off school for the Easter break so they could have time to process the news before the whole world was talking about [it],” the insider noted. “They aren’t revealing what type of cancer it is.”
Harry and Meghan subsequently showed their support for Kate, telling Us in a statement, “We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.”
Before Kate’s public update about her health, Harry and Meghan were on the outs with the majority of his loved ones following their 2020 exit from the royal family. The division got even worse when Harry released his bombshell Spare memoir in early 2023.
A second source previously told Us that Kate was not happy with how Harry wrote about her, including claims that she made Meghan cry and encouraged Harry to wear his infamous Nazi Halloween costume.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
“Kate feels that Harry’s actions are atrocious,” the insider shared in January 2023. “She is appalled at him for dragging her name through the dirt and is finding it hard to forgive.”
Another insider revealed that William “doesn’t see how” his younger brother could “come back into the fold” of the royal family. “At this point, he’s got no plans to speak to Harry,” the insider told Us at the time. “He’s come to terms with the fact [that] he’s lost his little brother and quite possibly for life.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi