Expert Claims These Royals Are Showing Princess Charlotte & Prince Louis How To Be ‘Successful Spares’ in a Not-So-Subtle Jab at Prince Harry

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While Prince William and Kate Middleton work to prepare their oldest for the throne, they’re also apparently preparing their younger two kids to stand in the shadows. Because while Prince George, 10 is the heir to the crown, Princess Charlotte, 8 and Prince Louis, 5 are the “spares.”

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And as we saw in the case of Prince William’s brother Prince Harry, playing second fiddle (along with receiving outrageous hate from the media and an alleged lack of support from his family) can come with major repercussions. In 2020, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle famously stepped down as senior members of the royal family. Now, Prince William and Kate are allegedly trying to stop history from repeating itself.

Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, said the parents of three must be “acutely aware of the problems for a royal spare.” And so it’s probably not a coincidence that they are making sure they have alternate role models who are spares.

And who might that be? Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. The brother and sister-in-law of King Charles III.

The couple recently went to a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, and Bond said they are setting the “perfect example” for Prince George’s little siblings for how to be a spare. One who stays within the family.

“As the King calls on them to take a more prominent role, Edward and Sophie are showing they are very much up to the task,” Bond said. “They are also serving as excellent role models to their great nephews and niece — showing that you can be a ‘spare’ or even a ‘spare to the spare’ and make a real success of working as a valued member of the Royal Family.”

It’s a not-so-subtle snub at Prince Harry — who might have been said role model in an alternate universe — and the disastrous relationship he now has with the royal family. In his 2023 tell-all memoir, Spare, he detailed his awful experience as the spare. He told The Telegraph that part of his intention with writing the book was that future generations could learn from him.

“Though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility, I still feel a responsibility,” Prince Harry said of his nephews and niece. “Out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, that worries me.”

It must worry Buckingham Palace too, and so they are likely breathing easier with another spare showing Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis that they could take a different path.

Before you go, check out 42 times Prince Louis was adorably unimpressed by King Charles’ coronation.

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