Prince Harry and Meghan Markle received the public's sympathy following their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey for a CBS special in March 2021. So, they were reportedly surprised that the Duke of Sussex's memoir Spare received backlash from the public.
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Expecting Sympathy In Memoir Spare?
Royal correspondent and commentator Victoria Arbiter spoke about the backlash Prince Harry's book received. According to him, the royal couple based in California probably didn't expect that there would be public scrutiny and many would criticize his memoir.
"I think they thought there would be a similar level of sympathy to that following the Oprah interview so I think they probably have been quite shocked," Arbiter said on TalkTV, Express reported.
"Americans in general are a sympathetic bunch and I am generalising when I say that and I think Harry and Meghan have enjoyed that level of sympathy that they perhaps weren't given in the UK. But I think they will have been shocked by some of the negative pushback, I don't think that was expected it at all."
The outlet noted that Prince Harry's popularity has sunk following his allegations against the royal family in his book.
A YouGov survey revealed that 64 percent of Britons have a negative view of Prince William's brother, which was higher than the 58% in May. Additionally, only 26% viewed him in a positive light.
Prince Harry's favorability among the British public is at an all-time low of -38. His wife, Meghan Markle, had a -42 favorability score.
Did Prince Harry Achieve His Goal In His Memoir Spare?
Prince Harry shared a lot of intimate details about his family in his book. Arbiter wasn't sure what's the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's agenda with their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan and his memoir Spare.
She speculated that if Prince Harry wanted to air his side of the story, he had probably achieved that.
"I think Harry with his book in particular was very keen to get his side of the story across so mission accomplished in that regard," Arbiter said. "He doesn't hold anything back as anyone who has read the book knows, he's very willing to share every facet of his life."
"In that regard, I think yes, he has achieved his objective, but I don't think the book was received quite how he was hoping. There are people that remain hugely sympathetic to him but there's been a lot of criticism so, the broader public is talking about him in a way that I think he perhaps didn't anticipate."
Do you agree that the criticisms in Prince Harry's book were unexpected?
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