Source: People
Tuesday 20 July 2021 12:48:31
Prince Harry is telling his story.
The Duke of Sussex is writing a memoir that's scheduled to be released in late 2022, Penguin Random House announced on Monday.
"I'm writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become," he said in a statement. "I've worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story — the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned — I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think."
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 to Meghan Markle and father to son Archie, 2, and daughter Lilibet, 1 month — will be donated to charity.
Harry previously spoke out in some detail about his and Meghan's experience during a now-Emmy-nominated March interview with Oprah Winfrey in which Meghan not only said she was "silenced" by the institution and denied help amid a mental health crisis, but also told Winfrey an unnamed member of the royal family had voiced "concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born."
Following that interview, Buckingham Palace released a 61-word statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. While the Queen said the family was "saddened" to hear of Meghan and Harry's challenges and stated "Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members," she also remarked that "some recollections may vary" when it comes to the issues and concerns raised in their interview.
A royal insider told PEOPLE that the Queen's comment was an "underlying jab" that indicated dissent among the family at some of the claims made in the interview.
Meghan, 39, has previously been involved in book projects of her own. After writing the forward to a cookbook for charity in 2018, she recently released her debut children's book The Bench, which was inspired by the bond between fathers and sons.
Prince Harry recently traveled to the U.K. to unveil a statue of his late mother, Princess Diana, at Kensington Palace alongside his brother, Prince William.
Despite a painful public fracture between the brothers in recent years, a source told PEOPLE that the dedication was "gentle and intimate — it felt like a release."