All that caused the British media to accuse the Prince of selling out his family to fund himself.
The question at the centre of all this - what is Harry hoping to achieve? - was further stirred by a report in the Guardian last week, based on a leaked copy of the book.
It detailed an incident in the book in which Harry says his brother Prince William “knocked me down to the floor” during an argument in 2019.
Further revelations have flooded the media over the past few days about topics such as drugs, Charles’ marriage to Camilla, and Harry’s fighting in Afghanistan. Some of the details inadvertently confirm the truism that “less is more,” and recall cringe-worthy royal moments of the 1980s and 90s.
The Guardian report says the book reflects its title and second son Harry’s resentment at being called the “spare” to William’s “heir”. In the reporter’s view, that’s “the unifying theme” of the book.
The contradiction at the heart of what Harry is doing appears to be that he’s not against being part of an institutional public family, and the title, fame, wealth and privilege that goes with it - he wants his role to be on his terms and the institution reformed.
In one of the interviews, he says “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile”, and the “ball is in their court” as though it’s up to the family he left to chase him and lure him back.
Being born into the royal family would be a uniquely weird experience, well beyond that of being a celebrity “Nepo Baby”, where in most cases a person would have a choice whether to follow in a famous parent’s career footsteps or have a quieter life.
A royal exists as a walking symbol to be stared at most of the time, without really being able to develop individualistic goals and talents. A member of the family’s identity is a royal identity, not their own. The royals have a constant attention-drawing ability, thanks to the public’s interest.
Harry can’t seem to enjoy his new freedom in the US and fully walk away.
From being one of the most popular royals, who would have had an even larger role now under King Charles, he is undermining his family from afar and the public is lapping it up.
His strategy at going so public with the warring Windsors saga seems very counter-productive.
A YouGov poll taken in Britain a month ago on the royals showed that only Prince Andrew is more unpopular than Harry and Meghan. It also found that all the negative publicity was taking a toll on the popularity of other members of the family, of whom the most popular are the Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess Anne.
And how would most families react to being publicly criticised and having their very personal relationships with each other exposed? Welcome the person back with open arms? Would a person saying such things publicly really expect there to be no cost involved, such as in a distancing of relationships?
Families are a complex web of bonds. People feel they can be themselves with family members in a way they can’t with outsiders, and think they can say things that the others will just take without any weakening of affection.
But people have limits, and heated fights can corrode into emotional distancing and frozen feuds.
In the case of Prince Harry and his immediate family, the spilling of private scenes into the public arena to be chewed over by millions, makes it harder to build bridges.
Those bridges look burned. Whether there’s a way back for Harry might depend on what happens in May at his father’s coronation.
