Spare us, Prince Harry. His truth overload could cause irreparable harm. | Opinion
As details of Prince Harry’s much anticipated memoir, “Spare,” have leaked to the Spanish media and then translated into English, the revelations have been nothing short of salacious.
His physical altercation with his brother William, the future King of England, his loss of virginity when he was 17, trying to persuade his father, King Charles, not to marry the Queen Consort, Camilla, and on and on and on.
While there is no doubt a hefty advance was one of his motivations for writing his tell-all book, and his need to share his “truth” probably another motivating factor, when does too much information become a liability?
As someone who has written scores of profiles about people from all walks of life —chief executive officers, mayors, Congressmen, educators, law enforcement officers, and others, as well as eight books including biographies and autobiographies, there is always a push and pull regarding how much information to reveal.
Counterpoint:Thank you, Prince Harry, for having the courage to speak your truth
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His words could haunt him forever
In an ideal world, a subject might want to share every excruciating detail of their lives, with the idea that it will make their story more authentic.
From messy divorces, affairs, financial missteps, excessive drinking, and more, this reality show approach to memoir writing may seem the way to go. On the other hand, some memoir subjects choose the opposite. They insist on leaving out anything that would let the reader infer that their so-called “perfect” life, was more fiction than fact.
For example, there were numerous times when a person I was interviewing told me something that they considered to be their “truth.” It may have been an altercation with a spouse or co-worker, knowledge of a colleagues’ personal transgression, or even gossip they believed that by sharing was to their advantage. The question I would always ask was, “Is sharing this with the world going to help or hurt you? Do you know for a fact that this is true? And is revealing this information going to open you up for a defamation lawsuit?”
More by Dava Guerin:Called to serve: Who are the real men and women in blue? | Opinion
In most cases, the interview subject never considered these issues, but when they realized their words could have a negative impact, they almost always reconsidered their position.
In addition, while it might initially feel cathartic to open up your life and share personal grievances, over time, you may have second thoughts. Once your life is in print, your words will help or haunt you forever.
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What good does it do to hurt someone else?
Already, Prince Harry’s more controversial and very personal recollections of his life as a member of the Royal Family have caused shockwaves around the world. His truth is his life as he sees it.
His father and brother may have a completely different perspective of the story Prince Harry tells in his memoir. Yet, there is no fact checking. No counterbalance of remembrances. And while no one would necessarily expect these to be included in someone’s personal memoir, still, tempering a subject’s inner-most impulses is in my opinion, an important aspect of helping a person write their life story.
Often times people have asked me to pen my own memoir. I have many behind the scenes stories about famous politicians, entertainers, and business executives.
Some of what I have witnessed firsthand could be quite salacious. Even catastrophic to that person’s life and career. But to what end? Is my goal to enlighten my reader, or add to the reality show genre, feeding the beast of gossipmongers?
So, with all due respect for Prince Harry, his service to his country, and champion for wounded warriors and other worthy causes, he should have tempered his words in his new memoir. He might have thought to “spare” us from all the messy details of his life. His words surely will have consequences that someday he may deeply regret.
Dava Guerin is the author or co-author of eight books about wounded warriors, military caregivers, veterans, first responders, and others.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Spare us. Prince Harry's truth overload could cause irreparable harm.
