Prince Harry playing well on ‘wicked stepmother, cold father’ trope

Prince Harry’s ability to ‘successfully’ play on the “wicked stepmother and cold father” trope is being recognized by experts.

This admission has been issued by writer Pauline Maclaran in a piece for the New Zealand Herald.

In it she wrote, “The release of Spare is a dramatic moment. Prince Harry’s many revelations about his life as a member of the royal family often double as criticisms of his family members.”

“At the heart of Harry’s narrative is his defence of his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, against her persecution by the tabloid press and the alleged complicity of his family in this.”

The writer also added, “Harry’s book is full of familiar narrative tropes. There is his wicked stepmother, Camilla, who he accuses of scheming with the press. And the emotional coldness of his father, who he claims did not hug him on telling him of his mother, Diana’s death.”

“Harry is the book’s heroic protagonist. He labels his brother William his “arch nemesis”, recounting many incidents of sibling rivalry and even a physical altercation. All the emotional ingredients are here to sustain many future episodes of the royal family soap opera.”

“It is exactly these archetypal human tensions – arch nemeses, wicked stepmothers – so easily relatable to ordinary family life, that encourage soap opera fandom and build audience empathy with the characters.”

“But as we have seen in the reactions to Spare, many peoples’ empathetic involvement is not for Harry. Instead, it lies with those he criticises, particularly William, Kate and Charles.”