1-40（在线收听）

40.

I completed my education at Eton in June 2003, thanks to hours of hard work and some extratutoring arranged by Pa. No small feat for one so unscholarly, so limited, so distracted, and while Iwasn’t proud of myself, exactly, because I didn’t know how to be proud of myself, I felt a distinctpause in my nonstop internal self-criticism.

And then I was accused of cheating.

An art teacher came forward with evidence of cheating, which turned out not to be evidence ofcheating. It turned out to be nothing at all, and I was later cleared by the exam board. But thedamage was done. The accusation stuck.

Brokenhearted, I wanted to release a statement, hold a press conference, tell the world: I didthe work! I didn’t cheat!

The Palace wouldn’t let me. In this, as in most things, the Palace stuck fast to the familymotto: Never complain, never explain. Especially if the complainer was an eighteen-year-old boy.

Thus I was forced to sit by and say nothing while the papers called me a cheat and a dummyevery day. (Because of an art project! I mean, how do you “cheat” on an art project?) This was theofficial start of that dreaded title: Prince Thicko. Just as I was cast as Conrade without myconsultation or consent, I was now cast in this role. The difference was, we did Much Ado AboutNothing for three nights. This had the look of a role that would last a lifetime.

Prince Harry? Oh, yeah, not too bright.

Can’t pass a simple test without cheating, that’s what I read!

I talked to Pa about it. I was near despair.

He said what he always said.

Darling boy, just don’t read it.

He never read it. He read everything else, from Shakespeare to white papers on climatechange, but never the news. (He did watch the BBC, but he’d often end up throwing the controllerat the TV.) The problem was, everyone else read it. Everyone in my family claimed not to, justlike Pa, but even as they were making this claim to your face, liveried footmen were bustlingaround them, fanning every British newspaper across silver platters, as neatly as the scones andmarmalades.