 who were born later? How do they feel about such a status and does it have an impact on their lives? We are soon to find out. The world's most famous runner-up, the Duke of Sussex, is about to share 'his truth', as he likes to put it, on the subject in a memoir, strikingly entitled Spare. The book promises 'unflinchingly' to describe the 'highs and lows' of being second-in-line. And then, presumably, of slipping down the ranking, as the heir has children, to fifth, which arguably in dynastic terms makes him less of a spare and more surplus to requirements. While it seems unlikely that with so much to get off his chest, Prince Harry will have had time to delve into a dictionary to look up the etymology of 'spare', he might not be surprised to find that, as well as meaning extra, spare can also be used to mean 'unemployed' and 'angry'. This may even explain his apparently quietly seething portrait on the book's cover. For those unable to wait until January, indeed for the Duke, too, the example of how spares in other royal houses are coping with not being number one might offer some useful pointers as to the right and wrong way for Harry to handle his lifetime on the royal subs' bench. They roughly divide into what might be termed – in relation to those other definitions of spare – as workers and shirkers. First-in-line among the workers is Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. Carl Philip may have been smiled upon by the gods when it came to Hollywood good looks (the 43-year-old is often described as a dead ringer for Orlando Bloom or Jamie Dornan) but royal life has not always been so kind. For the first seven months of his life, he was the actual){kind=link}
With his memoir set to share ‘his truth’, the Duke should look to others around the world for tips on living life on the royal subs’ bench
In that supposedly ideal set-up for royal families of having both an heir and a spare to keep the line secure, the road ahead is pretty much mapped out for the Number One Sons such as the Prince of Wales. Barring accidents, the throne will one day be theirs, though it may involve a long wait.
But what of the sons (and daughters) who were born later? How do they feel about such a status and does it have an impact on their lives?
We are soon to find out. The world’s most famous runner-up, the Duke of Sussex, is about to share “his truth”, as he likes to put it, on the subject in a memoir, strikingly entitled Spare.
The book promises “unflinchingly” to describe the “highs and lows” of being second-in-line. And then, presumably, of slipping down the ranking, as the heir has children, to fifth, which arguably in dynastic terms makes him less of a spare and more surplus to requirements.