KEY POINTS
- Prince Harry's memoir details rifts within the British royal family.
- Prince Harry said he was motivated by a desire to set the record straight.
- Experts say the revelations could have major repercussions for the monarchy.
Prince Harry's publicity push, which has exposed the extent of divisions and feuding in the British royal family, is likely to have negative consequences for the prince, the image of the British royal family, and the future of the monarchy, some analysts say.
Cultural historian Associate Professor Cindy McCreery from the University of Sydney said Prince Harry's publicity drive is "a very dangerous moment for the British monarchy" and its future in Commonwealth countries such as Australia.
"I think for republicans in Australia and elsewhere, these revelations will come at a critical time as they're trying to gain support for a move to become a republic," she told SBS News.
"Now, I'm not suggesting that Australia will immediately become a republic. But I think it's going to help those people who want to make the point that Australians really don't need to have the British monarch as head of state."
'Lose-lose situation'
King Charles assumes the role of Britain's monarch at a time of large-scale shifts, after the end of a 70-year reign by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and when six Caribbean countries have indicated.
Dr McCreery said the public spectacle adds to negative branding of the British monarchy, adding to the task facing King Charles to establish himself as a strong successor.
"It's just going to increase the vitriol on both sides. And I think that is that's really a lose-lose situation for individual members of the royal family. But I think it's also a lose-lose situation for British monarchy, because what Charles needs to do right now is to really kind of show the world that he is a fitting successor to his mother, and to really make people think that he is doing a great job."
Royal officials have not commented on any of Prince Harry's allegations, though allies have pushed back on the claims using anonymity.
Can Prince Harry's stated motivation for the publicity be taken at face value?
In an interview on Sunday promoting his autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry said he was motivated by a desire to set the record straight, and also reconcile with his estranged brother and father.
"Forgiveness is 100 per cent a possibility because I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back," he told Britain's ITV network.
Harry and his wife Meghan moved to California in 2020, citing what they saw as a lack of support from members of the British royal family and racist media portrayals of Meghan.
Prince William (right) was best man at his brother Harry's 2018 wedding to Megan Markle at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Source: AAP / Jane Barlow
“But the moment that that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others, me, other members of my family, then that's where I draw the line," he said in the interview.
Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne from the University of Melbourne said whether Prince Harry's PR strategy can be viewed as a success depends on how it is measured.
Media coverage and endorsements have earned the pair revenue, but personal reconciliation with family members may prove more elusive.
Harry and Meghan on a public tour. Source: AAP / DPPA/Sipa USA
"And that idea of whether those bridges can ever be rebuilt, or whether he can resurrect relationships with the family, that's the messiness of people's private lives that we probably won't get much insight into."
Leaked copies of the book, which goes on sale in the UK on 10 January, contain claims that Harry was physically attacked by his brother, Prince William.
Some of the more damaging claims to come out of the six-part Netflix series Harry & Meghan, which was released last month - and the Oprah Winfrey interview promoting it - included allegations that unnamed family members made several racist remarks on .
What happens next?
King Charles' coronation ceremony on 6 May 2023 will be a constraint on the ability of Prince Harry to dominate the news cycle, Associate Professor Creery said.
"To be quite cynical about it, the biggest problem would be is if in a year from now, people forget about Harry and Meghan, and then they have absolutely no kind of leverage whatsoever.
"If you look at a kind of a historical example, which is not precise, but which I think does have some certain resonance, and that's the situation with Edward VIII who abdicates in 1936 to marry his divorced American partner, Wallace Simpson.
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Mixed global reaction to Prince Harry's book
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"He leaves Britain. He eventually settled in France. And eventually, people largely forget about them. The lesson from that is that it is the incumbents, it is the monarch, it's the heir to the throne, it's their children who are protected - not just by the family themselves, but ultimately by the press, British society, and indeed society in Commonwealth nations.
"I'm not saying it will end up like that, but that would be a warning of how things might play out that they are, in a sense, exiled, not just from Britain, but from public opinion."
Dr Rosewarne said one direction Prince Harry could go is to lean into the progressive activist and social issues, including racial and gender justice, championed by his wife.
"There's only so many times you can tell the story of when my brother was mean to me, without the public getting really exhausted by that. And because this book has that feeling of an exposé, anything more along those lines well probably provoke reactions like: haven't you scraped that barrel already 27 times."
