Prince Harry once opened up about taking ‘carefully planned’ shopping trips, but one almost ended in disaster after the store made drastic changes.
In his 2023 book Spare, Prince Harry told readers about his “casual” shopping trips, which he took in record time. He also noted what it was like seeing members of the public reading newspapers and magazines that featured stories about himself and other members of The Firm, such as his mom, Princess Diana. However, one particular grocery shop outing almost ended in disaster for the royal.
In his memoir, Prince Harry wrote about a shopping trip he took at a store close to Buckingham Palace, which almost ended very badly. He penned he had gotten his grocery shop down to a concise 10 minutes and went to the shop “at least once a week.”
The dad-of-two even”memorized a map of the store” but that all changed when items were moved around, and he questioned if it was ‘legal.’
He wrote: “I did my own chores, my own cooking, my own food shopping. There was a supermarket by the Palace and I went there, casually, at least once a week. Of course, I’d plan each trip as carefully as a patrol around Musa Qala. l arrive at different times, randomly, to throw off the press.”
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Harry explained he would put on a ‘disguise’, made up of a baseball cap and a big loose coat. He would memorize the map of the store so he could be as quick as possible.
“I’d run along the aisles at warp speed, grabbing the salmon fillets I liked, the brand of yoghurt I liked… Plus a few Granny Smith apples and bananas. And, of course, some crisps. Then I’d sprint to the checkout.
“Just as I’d honed my preflight checks in the Apache, I now honed my grocery shopping time down to ten minutes.”
He also wrote by about the conversation he’d had with an employee over his confusion when they changed the layout. It absolutely “panicked” him.
“But one night I got to the shop and began to run up and down the aisles and everything… had moved.
I hurried over to an employee: ‘What’s happened?’ ‘Excuse me?’ ‘Where is everything?’ ‘Where is-?’
‘Why has everything moved?’ ‘Honestly?’ ‘Yes, honestly.’ ‘To keep people here longer. So they’ll buy more stuff.’
“I was gobsmacked. You can do that? By law? A bit panicky, I resumed running up and down the aisles, filling my trolley as best I could, keeping an eye on the clock, then rushed to the checkout.”
This was his biggest nightmare. Having to spend longer in the store, giving people more time to recognize him.
Harry’s observations
While out on his shopping trips, Prince Harry observed how the British public interacted with the royals through the press. He said he wanted to surprise them by “tapping them on the shoulder” to say hello.
“The checkout counter stood right beside the news racks, which held every British tabloid and magazine, and half the front pages and magazine covers were photos of my family. Or my mum. Or me,” he wrote.
“More than once I watched customers read about me,” he continued, “overheard them debating me.
“In 2015 I overheard them frequently discussing whether or not I’d ever marry. Whether or not I was happy. Whether or not I might be gay. I was always tempted to tap them on the shoulder… ‘Ello.”
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