Being the ‘spare to the heir’ is a vulnerable position, fraught with potential pitfalls – that Charlotte’s uncle, Prince Harry, has expressed all too clearly. In Spare (the Prince’s memoir, which the Prince even candidly named after his unofficial role) Harry reflected on the pain and identity struggles tied to his position in the family. ‘I was the shadow, the support, the Plan B,’ he wrote. ‘I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy.’ He shared that this tension led to a pointed rivalry with his brother, as well as moments where he felt undervalued. ‘My family had declared me a nullity. The Spare. I didn’t complain about it, but I didn’t need to dwell on it either. Far better, in my mind, not to think about certain facts,’ he wrote.
William and Kate will, no doubt, want to do everything in their power to prevent their daughter from following in Harry’s footsteps, said Hardman. Prince William, in particular, regards it as one of his most important duties to not just prepare ‘to be King himself, but to make the whole royal existence approachable and not at all scary for his children’. Already, the Waleses are raising their children to strike the right balance between private life and duty, and are well aware that Princess Charlotte will one day be a full-time working royal – with all the responsibility that entails. ‘Getting the family right is absolutely critical, particularly in terms of what the nation expects of them,’ a family friend told People.
Kate and William are said to be keen on making ‘the whole royal existence approachable’ for their children
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