The Prince of Wales has vowed to protect his children from the "built-in cruelty" of the heir and spare system, a royal author has claimed.
William, 43, is said to be determined that his youngest children, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven, are given the full preparation they need to lead "independent lives" in the future as their older brother, Prince George, 12, becomes King.
Writing in her Substack column, Fresh Hell, Princess Diana's biographer Tina Brown, said William is "pre-occupied" with the issue, referring to his "sibling feud".
The heir to the throne is no longer in contact with his younger brother, Prince Harry, who referred to himself as a "spare" in his 2023 memoir of the same name.
"I am told that the heir to the throne, Prince William, is preoccupied with the built-in risk of primogeniture’s cruelty," Tina, a former editor of Vanity Fair, writes.
"He is determined that his second- and third-born children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, are well-prepared and well-financed for independent lives and will not fall into the same cycle of thwarted freedom."
Harry's pain at being the 'Spare'
The 'Heir and Spare' nicknames were initially used by the press to describe Prince William and Prince Harry. It refers to the notion of aristocratic families that the eldest sibling will inherit the title or estate, with the younger one waiting as a replacement just in case.
In extracts from his biography, Harry claimed that the names were also used by his parents, Charles and Diana, as well as the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. He said that his role within the family was made explicitly clear from the start – to provide a backup, distraction, diversion and a spare part to his brother and future King, Prince William.
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesIn an extract from the book, Harry claimed that King Charles supposedly said to his wife Diana on the day of Harry's birth: "Wonderful! Now you've given me an heir and a spare – my work is done."
Harry added: "They would say it without a spirit of judgement, but straight out. I was the shadow, the supporting actor, the plan B. I was brought into this world in case something happened to Willy."
In a subsequent interview published on Substack, Harry said of his brother’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis: "I know that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, it worries me."
Changing times
The centuries-old male primogeniture tradition was removed in 2013, meaning Princess Charlotte will stand before Louis in the line of succession. Previously, the primogeniture rules favoured male descendants, meaning Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is listed before his older sister, Princess Anne.
© WireImageSpeaking in a Channel 5 documentary previously, author Tom Quinn revealed how this will change the dynamic between the three Wales siblings. "It will make things a lot easier because there won't be two males like two deer clashing antlers anymore," he said.
Parenting expert Jo Frost previously told HELLO! that she doesn't believe Charlotte and Louis will follow the heir and spare dynamic: "I think William and Catherine understand the importance of nurturing the sibling relationships between the three of them.
"Dare I say it, in their family it would never be the ‘heir and spare’. It would be about the importance of all of them."
