Harry Deals His Gran A Heavy Blow

The bombshell news of the prince’s planned memoir has cast a long shadow over the queen’s platinum jubilee and further deepened the chasm between Harry and his family

- Nici De Wet

It's the biggest and most important event on the royal calendar – the queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations, set to take place in June next year to pay homage to the monarch’s record-breaking 70 years on the British throne.

Several days’ worth of events are being planned in the UK to honour the reign of a woman who’s dedicated her life to duty and country. Already the stage is being set, the itinerary fine-tuned, the guest lists finalised for festivities that will be the highlight of Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee year.

But what should be a happy if busy preparation period is being overshadowed by yet another bomb that’s been dropped on the royal family.

News recently broke that Prince Harry will be releasing his memoir later next year – and while he’s promised it will be an “accurate and wholly truthful” account of his life, many are fearful of what it could contain.

Harry (36) is reportedly writing two books, one of which will be released only after his grandmother dies. He’s believed to have overseen the offers from publishing houses and started bidding at the princely sum of $25 million (R373m).

“The final contract was actually a four-book deal,” a publishing insider told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “What’s most shocking, frankly, is Harry’s suggestion that the second book won’t be published until the queen is no longer here. People will start asking, ‘What’s he got, who’s he going to target?’

“The very idea of this unexploded bomb hanging about waiting for the queen to pass is just extraordinary and may strike many as being in bad taste.”