Prince Harry’s explosive memoir Spare finally arrives in UK book shops on Tuesday 10 January, having already created major waves thanks to the royal’s damning accusations against his own family and frank personal confessions about his adolescence.
In Spare itself and the major broadcast interviews that have accompanied it, Harry makes a series of allegations about his father King Charles III, the Queen Consort and his brother Prince William failing to welcome his wife, the American actress Meghan Markle, into the fold and conspiring with the British tabloid media to damage her reputation.
Amid the tales of violent brawls, harsh words, juvenile sex and drugs and his military kill count, Harry also reveals lighter details, including the time he taught his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, to do Ali G’s signature hand flick and the music he took solace in during difficult moments away from the limelight.
“In the times I felt alone and separated from my family, I always took time to myself to sit back and listen to Shenseea,” he writes in Spare.
“Her lyrics resonated with me and got me through a lot.”
Shenseea, 26, is a Jamaican dancehall star born Chinsea Lee who went viral in 2019 when her song “Blessed” featuring Tyga notched up almost 60m views on YouTube.
She has since released her debut album Alpha and collaborated with artists including Kanye West, Sean Paul, Christina Aguilera, Megan Thee Stallion, Beenie Man and Vybz Kartel.
While Harry does not name his favourite Shenseea track, the artist herself has made a suggestion.
“I know Rebel is his song! That intro is it,” she wrote on Twitter in response to the news of the prince’s admiration.
“Rebel” is her 2020 collaboration with Zum that appeared on the compilation Liquid Sunshine Riddim in which the rapper declares: “You’re not going to hold me down, you can’t hold me down, I’m a rebel.”
It’s not difficult to see why Shenseea’s anthem of defiance and self-assertion might appeal to a prince who likewise no longer wishes to be told what to do, where to go and how to dress, in his case by an overbearing family in hock to antiquated tradition.
