Spare

Prince Harry consults his private secretary, Ed Lane Fox (Elf), about founding an athletics event for injured veterans. Elf arranges a meeting with Keith Mills, the organizer of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Harry tells Mills that the athletics event must synchronize with the First World War’s centenary in 10 months.

After Harry embarks on another Walking With The Wounded trek—this time to the South Pole—he drops a chair on his foot, breaking a toe. However, his injury is minor compared to the significant disabilities that the other men have. The group walks for nine hours every day, pulling heavy sleds. Harry falls ill and collapses. He’s treated by medics and rejoins the trek, successfully reaching the South Pole in December 2013.

After Harry returns to England to spend Christmas with his family at Sandringham, the “Court Circular”—the publication of the number of duties each royal has undertaken during the year—causes tension. The circular inevitably leads to the press suggesting that some of the royals are “lazy.”

Harry moves to Nottingham Cottage when William and Kate move to larger premises around the corner. Although they’re nearby, his brother and sister-in-law don’t invite Harry over. Prince William and Kate have hinted that they’d like Harry to marry Cressida, whom Harry has secretly dated for two years. He’s grateful to his girlfriend for encouraging him to talk about his mother. However, he feels that their connection is more friendly than romantic. When the paparazzi start to follow Cressida, Harry ends the relationship. Harry attends a friend’s stag party and wedding in the US. He’s pleased that his friend has found happiness and wonders when he’ll have a wife and family.

In June 2014, “Rehabber Kooks” is found not guilty in the phone-hacking trial. Harry is outraged, considering it a miscarriage of justice. He visits Teej and Mike in Botswana.

As he leaves a club one night, Harry sees two men run toward him. One looks like he’s reaching for a gun. Billy the Rock prepares to shoot the men before realizing that they’re Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. In August 2014, Prince Harry visits an art installation at the Tower of London with his brother and sister-in-law. Thousands of ceramic poppies cover the moat, representing the Commonwealth soldiers killed in World War I. Inside the tower, they view the Crown Jewels.

Harry attends the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games, the athletics event he founded for wounded veterans. Although he’s anxious during his speech, the event is a success. Thousands of veterans and their families send grateful messages. The closing ceremony falls on Harry’s 30th birthday. Later, Harry announces his decision to leave the Army. When the injured soldier, Ben, runs a marathon around London, Harry turns up to support him.

The year 2015 begins with a succession of official engagements for Harry. Meanwhile, the press turns against Prince William, accusing him of laziness. Prince William tells Harry that he blames Prince Charles, who allocates their duties. He suggests that Prince Charles and Camilla keep the high-profile appointments for themselves because they don’t want younger royals to take the limelight. While Harry is in Australia, Kate gives birth to a daughter, Charlotte. A reporter points out that Harry is now fifth-in-line for the throne.

Harry stops socializing, leaving Nottingham Cottage only to work or shop. His anxiety worsens as he and Prince William campaign to raise mental health awareness. He carefully plans his visits to the supermarket, wearing a baseball cap to avoid unwanted attention, and hears customers discussing him as they read the tabloid headlines, oblivious to his presence. One day he breaks his cover and intervenes when a couple is rude to a cashier. When Harry visits Mildmay Mission Hospital—where his mother famously held the hand of an HIV-positive patient—a woman tells him that she sat on Princess Diana’s knee as a two-year-old. Harry feels jealous because he can’t retrieve his memories of his mother.

Toward the end of 2015, Harry visits Teej and Mike in Botswana. He wants to become more involved in his friends’ environmental work. However, his brother has declared African wildlife charities to be his territory. For the next four months, Harry researches ivory poaching and its devastating impact on rhinos. On an anti-poaching patrol, Harry sees a two dead rhinos—a mother and baby. He’s told that there’s no chance of finding the poachers responsible. On another expedition, he accompanies a doctor monitoring the desert’s lion population. The doctor darts two lions, but the lioness unexpectedly wakes and stands in front of Harry. Instead of fearing her, Harry feels a strong connection with the lioness before she falls back to sleep.

In January 2016, Harry travels to Los Angeles, California, with two friends and stays at the home of Courteney Cox. He and his friends attend several house parties. One night, they eat magic mushroom chocolates and Harry hallucinates, seeing a pedal bin transform into a head. Approaching his 32nd birthday, he looks up at the night sky, asking for his life to change.