The modern "heir and spare" relationship between Prince George and Princess Charlotte will play out very differently from the past, in contrast to the previously discussed tension between brothers Prince William and Prince Harry. According to Richard Eden, a royal expert for the Daily Mail, Prince Charlotte, and perhaps his brother Prince Louis as well, is expected to get a job rather than become a full-time royal, as was the case before Harry and his wife Meghan Markle left the royal family in January 2020.

This reflects King Charles' vision of a slimmer monarchy, which William (Charlotte's father and the future king himself) also supports, not wanting history to repeat itself, the magazine reported.

"From what I've heard," Eden writes, "the Crown Prince and Princess want 7-year-old Charlotte to get a job and grow up and not become full-time royalty. Personally, I would like to see the royal family grow larger, do more official functions, and meet more of the public. If Charlotte gets a job and does not become an active member of the 'farm,' be prepared to step into the gap if necessary."

This is the royal family where Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's "spare," works, and all three of Prince Charles' brothers (Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward) worked at "The Farm," and Anne and Edward still do, although Andrew was forced to leave due to a sexual assault lawsuit. Harry despises his role as a spare, titling his memoir as such, and is candid about playing second fiddle in the book: "I came into this world in case something happened to Willie," he writes, and his parents and grandparents refer to him and William as "the heir and reserve," an "abbreviation" he claimed. He described his life as "providing distraction, entertainment, and spare parts should William need a kidney, blood transfusion, or bone marrow."

The book, Eden wrote, although controversial, may provide a much-needed lesson for the royal family in terms of the notorious heir and spare parts dynamic.

"The book," he writes, "will inspire us to think deeply about how to avoid a repeat of the breakdown of the relationship between royal heirs and 'spares.'"

And while Harry was the only one who wrote a book about it, Margaret and Andrew, Prince Charles' second-in-command, had their own "spare" conflicts.