It hasn’t gone unnoticed that TOS has been sniffling and snivelling a fair bit, and it doesn’t seem to be down to a cold. Sniffles Sussex, The Overseas Son and the Sussex PR team appear to have leaked a copy of the book, ‘S P A R E’ to a left wing journalist, perhaps in an attempt to detract from the story that Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter criticised then for using his legacy, and name to further their cause and to promote themselves. That was a story they were not expecting, could not control, and could not suppress. The only other thing to do by deflecting is to throw in a juicy bit of gossip to attack the RF and to promote Sniffles as the innocent victim.
The Guardian, a newspaper that has been pro-Sussex and anti-monarchy, allegedly acquired a copy of the book, probably through the Sussex PR channels and with the approval of Sniffles, who probably highlighted an extract to leak. It details an altercation between William and Harry in 2019, location, Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace. During the exchange, Sniffles (also named Harold by William, allegedly) grabbed him by the collar and broke his necklace.
Now I don’t know about you, but I had to stifle a giggle if that’s the most important detail Sniffles remembers. He then goes on the say that he fell and broke the doggie bowl which left him with cuts and bruises that TW later saw, and that’s how she found out about the scuffle. Really? As a trained soldier he doesn’t know how to break a fall, and just how big is the dog bowl for goodness sake to give him such injuries? He’s a big lad, and the bowl can’t be any bigger than the size of his head. However, it is written to woo the reader into believing that Sniffles was an innocent victim—attacked and bullied by his brother. What he is doing is goading William into a response, and all I can say is thank goodness he’s no longer in the Armed Forces if he is so delicate and weak that he cries over a broken necklace and a broken doggie bowl!
Sniffles further tells us that he called his therapist rather than tell anyone else. Whoever the therapist is, he should get his money back as they have done a pitiful job and left him in a worse state than he was in before. As many have pointed out, Sniffles had access to a therapist and called them when he had a tumble and scrap with his big brother and his feelings were hurt, but he didn't think to mention his wife was suicidal? Well, that often happens when you get caught in a fib, and when you create a narrative after the fact. Why didn’t Sniffles call Pa, as he is the only one who could have intervened between the siblings, but perhaps he knew that Pa would probably say that he deserved to be reprimanded by William.
An actual normal reaction would be to talk about how angry or scared you felt if you were being attacked, and how you wanted to react or what you did or said rather than mention what was broken. That was probably added to suggest the strength of the alleged ‘scuffle’. As children, there are many videos of the siblings fighting, pushing, and hitting each other and so an argument between siblings is actually normal. When people fib, they tend to give to many insignificant details especially when they wish to gain the sympathy vote.
“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
There are further allegations that William was ‘parroting’ the press when he made allegations about TW. I think the only parrot is Sniffles who reads his cue cards, and rehearses his lines as coached by his wife. Sniffles forgets that they shared staff and that William was aware of the bullying allegations, and had apparently overheard a member of KP staff being berated by TW. Is he claiming that William is brainwashed by the media, when it is he who is been brainwashed and isolated from reality by his wife?
The problem here is that Sniffles and TW are blaming the media for everything, but how can they blame the media for staff resigning, and reporting her bullying behaviour in the Royal Household? People can decide for themselves without reading the tabloids and opinion pieces by watching video footage that exists of the duo both behaving inappropriately. Apparently William called TW, ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’, which we have actually seen in video footage, where she has pushed people to one side, she was rude to Amy Pickerill (a former aide, videoed by a member of the public), and abrasive when her behaviour led to members of staff being bullied and belittled by her, or deliberately ignoring directions from the late Queen’s aides.
Those that remember the fallout from the Diana/Bashir interview will recall that the next day, BP announced that her HRH was to be removed and divorce proceedings were to begin. Diana believed her popularity would save her, but it didn’t and this is what Sniffles seems to be banking on.
I was never a Diana fan, a fence-sitter like many, but after the interview many people felt it was highly inappropriate and did turn against her. Some of those who remained neutral or supportive felt slightly foolish when it was later revealed she had entertained a string of lovers and had also broken up some relationships. She was not quite the innocent they believed she was made out to be. That doesn’t take away from her work, but they felt they had been misled, and had judged based on one side of the story.
Behind closed doors there are always disagreements, arguments and heated exchanges as well as physical altercations in all families and friendships, but do we really need to know about them when they were fleeting moments where no one was seriously harmed? It seems Sniffles is using any incident to portray himself as the innocent victim in an alleged conspiracy to push him and TW out of the RF. The truth is that TW at least, never actually wished to work according to the guidelines to represent the late Queen, but wished to use the status to do as she wished to elevate her status and profile in order to monetise the titles later on.
Can’t C3 and BP see that the longer these attacks continue, more harm and damage is done? They waited too long to act, and people are believing Sniffles because there are some who believe that if the RF remain silent it is because they have something to hide, or that Sniffles is telling the truth (despite many inaccuracies and discrepancies in the various versions of events). To be frank, we know there were disagreements and heated words, but it seems the account has been exaggerated and highly embellished for specific narrative purposes. It seems that William was trying to nip things in the bud early on prior to the duo being kicked out of KP, but a plan to exit was already in play.
When will C3 act to ‘spare’ us having to endure this agonising saga any longer? There comes a time when you simply have to cut out the toxicity once and for all for the greater good, and C3 must choose between the Monarchy or to appease The Overseas Son. The leaked extract seems to be an attempt to push sales as PR. Perhaps the pre-sales aren’t quite what they had hoped, but will the publishers sue The Guardian for a leaked extract because that is the norm when an unauthorised extract is published as breach of copyright. If they don’t sue, then we can assume that the leak was given the green light by the author if the publisher did not approve this move.
*It appears the book has been released in Spain today, 5 days early which means it would be hard to prove leaks.