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Harry, stop it. 

 

Please—you’ve given me PTS (Post-traumatic’Spare’) Syndrome with this blitzkrieg of promotional publicity for the tell-all tome about your family, to the point where I’m now adding to the media furor surrounding it.

 

Every paper I open–wait, I don’t open papers anymore–OK, every paper I pull up online trumpets yet another headline:

 

“Harry Denies Calling Royal Family Racist”

 

“Harry Boasts He Killed 25 Taliban Fighters!”

 

“Harry Claims It was Kate Who Left Meghan Sobbing On The Floor!”

 

Look, Har. Or Haz. Or Harold, which you claim William called you when he ripped off your necklace, I get it. You were raised in what you consider to be a dysfunctional household. You witnessed a bad marriage and an excruciatingly embarrassing divorce that was splashed over the tabloids with tales of affairs. You then lost your mother at a tender age and were obliged to mourn her in front of the entire world. That would be difficult for anyone to rise above without scars. And I also get that just because you also were raised with enormous privilege and wealth doesn’t mean you had it easy, or are a well-adjusted, secure man now on the brink of middle age. 

 

But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t, as in your own words, step back from royal duties and bolt to America with your wife and children, and expect the British public to be supportive about that—especially after sticking them with a wedding bill that topped $20 million. And you certainly can’t expect the taxpayers—not your father, the King, who is supported by them—to continue to pay for your security in the States. (Your mother certainly didn’t. After her divorce, she had police protection at public events but had to fund her own security–Forgive me for saying this, but she also left you a sizable inheritance of millions…) You can’t claim to be (again, your words ) an ‘environmentalist’ and not be ridiculed as you live in a home the size of a Walmart for a family of four, and take private jets everywhere you go. 

 

And honestly, while I understand it’s very easy to blame all the backlash you’re receiving on ’the media’—the very ‘media’ that you are courting to sell your book—you’ve made my head spin with retractions. Things just don’t add up. Maybe you can help me here. 

 

During your interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said there had been “several conversations about how dark the color of (Archie’s) skin would be.” This led to a wildfire of guesses and accusations while you made no effort, until very recently, to change that narrative of racism. You now say that you never said that your family was racist—the media did– but that your family does suffer from ‘unconscious bias.’ 

 

OK, fair enough. You never uttered that word during that interview. Yet, on December 7, you and your wife flew to New York to receive a humanitarian award in which the host, Kerry Kennedy, specifically said was being given to you for “speaking out against racism within the Royal Family.” 

 

So why did you accept such an award? Why wouldn’t you have said, “OK, wait a minute—we never said they were racist; we can’t accept this, it’s all been a huge misunderstanding.” 

 

But you didn’t. You both took it, happily walked the red carpet, and posed for photographs. 

 

Yesterday you say that the media has spun your description about killing 25 Taliban soldiers and this has put you and your family at risk of retaliation from the Taliban. So let’s roll that beautiful bean footage and look at your exact quote: “In truth, you can’t hurt people if you see them as people. They were chess pieces taken off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys. They trained me to ‘other’ them and they trained me well.” This was met by a reply by Anas Haqqani, senior aide and brother of Afghan Interior Minister Sir Haqqani: “The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return…”the truth is what you’ve said; Our innocent people were chess pieces to your soldiers, military and political leaders. Still, you were defeated in that ‘game’ of white and black squares.”

 

Nobody spun anything, Harry. Your words. Add to this that the British Army has put out statements that you have now jeopardized the safety of their military. Not ’The Daily Mail’ or ’The Mirror.’ You.

 

Anderson Cooper asked why you don’t renounce your title, along with your wife, as your family is continuing to (your words) “undermine” your book and your life. Rather testily, you shot back, “What difference would that make?”

 

Honestly, Harry, it would mean a lot. Because then you become quite ordinary, overnight. A regular Joe amongst the American public. For sure it would affect your financial bottom line: Everyone scrambles for an interview with Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex. The press won’t really be interested in plain old Harry Wales.

 

And that would be an enormous relief for the rest of us.