‘Prince Harry’s story will have a truly bleak ending’

Harry’s ending will be ‘bleak’ says Epstein (Image: Getty)Prince Harry, is of course, a little old to be subjected to a curfew by his despairing father. Anyway, given the price exacted from Netflix for his pound of royal flesh, I doubt the Duke of Sussex needs dad’s help paying for his iPhone. So, what’s left in terms of leverage for his increasingly weary papa?The answer has to be the one thing Harry and Meghan cling onto, despite stepping away from their roles as working royals. Their titles.However much they spout indignation at the injustice of life within The Firm, neither has shown any sign of wanting to scrub Duke and Duchess from the headed notepaper.However, such is King Charles’ frustration with his recalcitrant son that Palace insiders are now suggesting the Monarch will indeed strip the couple of their royal titles if the Duke`s upcoming book is an “all out onslaught against the House of Windsor”.But why wait for publication of a memoir which could have a nuclear fallout for the royal family?  Instead King Charles should make a pre-emptive strike.After all, with it’s provocatively pithy title of Spare, Harry`s memoir is likely to be as forgiving as a turkey at a thanksgiving dinner. In terms of content, the Oprah interview was clearly the entrée. You can autofill the rest.I recently wondered, in this paper, why Meghan and Harry had insisted on clinging to their royal titles.The angel in my head pondered whether it had sprouted from a sense of affection for the Queen who had bequeathed the honour of Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a wedding gift.But the devil roared back that, having lost their HRH, the fancy pants title was a commercial little number, useful in maintaining their marketability and too good to cast away.That’s why King Charles shouldn’t wait for the inevitable – not least because it is unseemly for our King to become entangled in a painful game of tit-for-tat. (You show me up, son and I’ll show you out)The book is expected to cover Harry`s life from childhood to the present day, including the prince’s time in the military and his life as a husband and father.Given how already in interviews Harry has dished out a withering version of royal life, his memoir is hardly likely to read like a bedtime story.The title itself, Spare may refer to Harry`s position as the brother of the heir. But the definition of the word also suggests a body trimmed of all excess.Perhaps then with the publication of his book, this is the time to cut away the fripperies of Harry`s former life, leaving him only with a lean and reborn version of who he once was.In effect, his new title, like that of his ill-advised memoir, will indeed be spare.  A bleak ending to a tale that shows no sign of offering a happy ending.