Edward, Duke of Windsor.Photo: Erika Stone/Getty Images
Prince Harryannounced that he’swriting an “accurate and wholly truthful” memoir— but he’s far from the first member of the royal family to do so.
Edward, Duke of Windsor — who wasQueen Elizabeth’s uncle and had been coronated King Edward VIII before abdicating the throne in 1936 so he could marry American Wallis Simpson — produced aghost-written biographytitledA King’s Story: The Memoirs of the Duke of Windsorin 1951. The memoir recalled his royal upbringing and schooling, leading up to falling in love with the American divorcée and ultimately giving up the position as monarch.
“Given my character, my roving curiosity and independence, my life appeared to form a disconnected pattern — duty without decision, service without responsibility, pomp without power,” wrote Harry’s great-great-uncle, according to an excerpt onAmazon. “Meanwhile, something had happened that, although I did not realise it at the time, was destined to change the whole course of my life. I met Wallis Warfield Simpson.”
Edward, Duke of Windsor.Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images
Edward and Wallis struggled financially after the abdication, having been cut off from the monarchy and having no source of income. Royalties from Edward’s memoir helped fund them as they lived in France.
Wallis published her own memoir,The Heart Has Its Reasons, in 1956.
Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Penguin Random House announced on Monday thatPrince Harry, 36, is writing a memoir that’s scheduled to be released in late 2022.
Prince Harry.Samir Hussein/WireImage
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Continued Harry, 36, “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the course of my life so far and excited for people to read a firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”
Proceeds from the book and audiobook — which will cover his childhood in the public eye to his military duty in Afghanistan to becoming a husband toMeghan Markleand father to sonArchie, 2, and daughterLilibet, 1 month — will be donated to charity.
source: people.com
