The prince was poised to drop serious "truth bombs" - but is he having second thoughts? Photo / AP
OPINION:
Say what you will about Prince Harry – something much of the internet and much of social media spends a lot of time doing – but there is one unimpeachable, indisputable fact that surely everyone has to agree on: The man is brave. Damn brave.
He has faced the Taliban during his two tours he spent serving on the frontline in Afghanistan, has trekked hundreds and hundreds of kilometres to both the North and South Pole for charity, and did not baulk at the pressure when, entirely of his own volition, he took on the monumental task of setting up his own international sporting competition, the Invictus Games.
Which is to say, Harry is not some lily-livered dude, a meek man willing to take the easy option. The man has cojones.
Except, perhaps, when it comes to staring down one petite 97-year-old who likes nothing more than a jammy dodger and Songs of Praise on the telly.
For weeks now, there have been reports offering tantalising new tidbits about the Duke of Sussex's memoir which had been reported to be hitting shelves sometime between October and Christmas.
In July, a publishing insider told Page Six that, "There's a lot of new stories in there about the past that Harry has not spoken about before, about his childhood ... there is some content in there that should make his family nervous."
Later the same month, The Sun reported that the manuscript was done and dusted and it had even been "signed off by lawyers".
For better, worse and a reported $27 million, Harry had seemed to have put the finishing touches on his first book which he had previously promised would be "intimate and heartfelt". Meanwhile, back in London, The Telegraph reported last week that both Prince Charles and Prince William's teams and their lawyers were being "kept in the dark" about the book's contents.
It seemed to be only a matter of time before this publishing event, of nuclear proportions, hit.
Except ... what if ... maybe ... Harry has gotten cold feet?
Now, a new report has raised the prospect that the self-exiled royal might be having second thoughts.
"I have heard that Harry has some truth bombs in his book that he is debating on whether to include or not," a publishing source told Page Six.
Meanwhile, another source "in the know" was quoted as saying that "things are up in the air" in regards to the publication date and even suggested that it could be pushed back to 2023.
(Another possible factor here: Michelle Obama's new book is out November 15 which is likely to dominate the charts).
"Industry chatter has been heating up as Harry's book is still not available on Amazon or elsewhere for all-important pre-sales," the report states.
So, in the sort of equine terminology that his grandmother and former colonel-in-chief the Queen would understand, are we looking at a refusal at the final jump?
The problem is, if this is the case, Harry could end up stuck between a rock and a very hard cheque with seven zeros at the end.
On one hand, offering up a series of juicy revelations and inside information about the House of Windsor is guaranteed to see this title rocket up the New York Times bestseller list and bring big smiles to the faces of the head honchos at Penguin Random House.
For the publishing giant to even hope to remotely earn back the Duke's stonkingly large advance, they are going to need tens of millions of people to rush out and eagerly snap up the autobiography for which audiences need something really sensational.
On the other hand, it would be entirely understandable if the 37-year-old might be having some misgivings about truly pantsing his family, given that such a move could end up being the final nail in the coffin of Harry's relationship with the royal family.
As things currently stand, they are hardly warm and chummy.
It was only in June that the world watched on as Buckingham Palace firmly put the Sussexes in their place during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee four-day Union Jack flag-a-thon, relegating them in the bluntest possible terms to lowly second-string status.
The previous time that the duke and duchess had taken part in church service with the royal family they had taken centre stage; this time they were left with hundreds of others to wait for 20 minutes until William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, rolled up.
(Staring at the back of the heads of front row 14-year-old Viscount Severn and the 77-year-old Duke of Gloucester as Harry and Meghan were forced must really give a person a chance to think about their choices, no?)
It's hard to see how Harry publishing a book that is in fact a real tell-all would do anything but dash what little Palace goodwill is left towards the errant Sussexes.
Then there is the question of The Firm Pty Ltd. Will or even could the Palace, faced with a fresh tranche of sensational, charged accusations from Harry, take it politely lying down? Or, in this scenario, could things get nasty?
Thus far the official response to each of Harry and Meghan's interviews has been one of very economical statements and a refusal to engage. But, how far can Harry and Meghan push the envelope until the Palace bites back?
The royal family has somehow ridden out the squalid and horrifying Prince Andrew mess thus far, ditto Harry and Meghan's fraught quitting. However, even a venerable, dignified institution which has withstood a whole millennium can only take so much before it snaps.
If Harry does decide to go ahead with a book chock full of shocking royal morsels, he runs a series of other risks too.
For one thing, ruffling feathers at Netflix.
The streaming giant has reportedly agreed to pay the Sussexes $140 million, with the couple said to be currently filming an "at home" docu series.
If Harry dishes in his book and all Netflix is left with are worthy, dry scenes of the Duke and Duchess non-stop trying to sell themselves to audiences as ideating, empowering thought-leaders, then might some very powerful noses be put badly out of joint?
Last year, after the couple chose Oprah Winfrey and CBS for their bombshell two-hour outpouring, one industry expert said at the time: "Netflix is paying them millions and they're giving all their best interviews to other networks.
"Do they expect Netflix to be happy about that?"
Ditto, earlier this year when again they were on CBS, this time with the network's Gayle King (who attended Meghan's controversial New York baby shower), for the interview in which Harry said he had visited the Queen to make sure she was "protected and has got the right people around her". The Daily Mail reported in May that the move had left Netflix bosses "exasperated" with the couple.
Then there is the fact that royal dirt is a finite resource, even for Harry.
If he decides to roll out the "truth bombs" now, what will they have left down the track for further books or TV shows?
Basically, the Sussexes will need to judiciously mete out the bombshells and headline-worthy details they still have tucked away if they want to hold the attention of the public and the entertainment world.
After all, Harry and Meghan are facing down the barrel of a lifetime of having to foot their own private jet and polo pony bills. They are going to need a consistent and large income stream for decades to come.
But again, while giving the world an inside peek at royal life might be a sure fire way to guarantee sales and streaming views, it is also something of a double-edged sword.
The public could very well become tired of Harry and Meghan regularly popping up to embarrass the Palace while there is also danger in them deciding to build their US enterprise on what is essentially privileged bellyaching.
So far, their Archewell Foundation has not managed to achieve anything of real note aside from writing some cheques (though kudos) and putting out self-important statements. Harry and Meghan have thus far failed to establish themselves in any meaningful way as leading voices in the US or seem to be taken that seriously by Washington or UN powerbrokers.
What it comes down to is that Harry's book represents something of a fork in the road for his post-royal life. How will he navigate competing commercial interests, his family and the plebeian need to keep the lights on?
This autobiography and what the Duke chooses to reveal about the most famous family in the world is also a bell that cannot be unrung. He better be bloody sure how loud and how long he wants to ring it for.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
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