Prince Harry has expressed his concern for the Prince and Princess of Wales's three children.
While speaking to The Telegraph to promote his new memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex reflected on how his older brother's children may be affected by their position within the British royal family.
After King Charles III, Prince William is next in line for the throne, followed by his children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Prince Louis.
"As I know full well - within my family - if it's not us (me and my brother) it's going to be someone else," Harry said. "And though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility, I still feel a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, that worries me."
In his memoir Spare, Harry claimed that his family members used "the spare" as a nickname for him growing up, from the derisive phrase "the heir and the spare".
"I was summoned to provide backup, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part... Kidney, perhaps. Blood transfusion. Speck of bone marrow," the 38-year-old wrote in the book, according Us Weekly. "This was all made explicitly clear to me from the start of life's journey and regularly reinforced after."
Representatives for Buckingham Palace have declined to comment on Harry's claims.
Spare is now available to purchase.
