Let’s just be up front: we are by no means royal obsessives or enthusiasts. But we do live online, and the online chatter about Prince Harry and his buzzy new memoir “Spare,” which sold 1.5 million copies on its first day of publication, has been *loud.* The more we thought about it, the more it seemed like the Windsor family’s cultural resonance was worth discussing.

Like so many middle/elder millennials, any feelings of connection we do have to the Royal Family, originate with Princess Diana: the people’s princess, the woman who spent time in New York City’s AIDS wards, the mother of princes William and Harry, the tragic figure who died in a car crash in 1997 at the age of 36. (And for those of us who were children in 1997, a coveted purple bear Beanie Baby.)

After Diana’s death, her teenage sons became international media spectacles, becoming the targets of the same paparazzi who hounded their mother.

Even from across the pond, we knew that Will and Harry were H-O-T — especially William, with his floppy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. So it’s not totally surprising that at least some Americans would sustain an interest in where the princes’ romantic lives ended up.

In the wake of Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s very contentious and public split with the monarchy — and retreat to Santa Barbara, California — we have gotten a veritable overload of royal headlines. This culminated with a Netflix documentary about Meghan and Harry, and then the release of “Spare.”

On this week’s pod, we get into all the juiciest revelations from “Spare,” why the monarchy is a human rights violation, and which royal sounds like the worst. Enjoy! xo

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We’ve been reading…

Naomi Fry on new TLC reality show “MILF Manor” for the New Yorker. She explores what it says about the culture that there is now “a May-December dating show haunted by the spectre of incest.” A perfect essay, no notes. -Emma

“The Weeds,” a forthcoming novel by Katy Simpson Smith, which interweaves the stories of two botanists, over a hundred years apart, scouring the Roman Colosseum for every species of flora it contains. Both women are humble researchers working for established male scholars, and both are heartbroken, seeking solace in their rote, painstaking work. Taking the structure of a botanical encyclopedia, the narrative advances slowly, through emotional vignettes that begin to tile together and overlap, and it definitely requires some intentional focus to get into — but as a bonus, you will be inspired to Google Image search all kinds of obscure plant species. -Claire

We’ve been listening to…

Season 3 of the “Queen of the Con” pod, because I cannot get enough of scam stories. This season focuses on Danielle Miller, a self-proclaimed con artist who cut her teeth in some of New York City’s most elite institutions. -Emma

About a million years late, I have started listening to “Who? Weekly”! I think I resisted out of stubbornness (who among us hasn’t randomly decided to really stick it to the man by not consuming a piece of media we’d clearly love?), but I wanted to get into a new pod for the first time in a while, so I gave it a shot. It’s obviously deliciously funny and already keeping me more informed about all the randomly famous people out there. -Claire

We’ve been watching…

Screeners of Netflix’s forthcoming crossover mega reality dating show, “Perfect Match,” and let me tell you… from what I’ve seen I am HOOKED. We’ll be covering this one over on bonus episodes of “Love To See It,” and I am very excited to discuss the larger Netflix reality universe. -Emma

Screeners of the the upcoming season of “You,” which has kept me feverishly guessing in a way I didn’t think the show could still manage in season 4. There’s some genre experimentation, some absolutely bonkers twists — I can’t wait to have an in-depth discussion of it. -Claire

We’ve been buying…

Well, I did end up buying the Vince Camuto boots I wrote about last week, in the root beer suede, and they are FAB. Also got a new NEST reed diffuser for my living room, and it’s been so lovely to walk into my apartment every day and know it will smell good. -Emma

Dry shampoo from Rabbit Brush, which is applied with a brush instead of an aerosol spray and made from clay, clove, and black walnut hull. It’s very crunchy and “toxin-free,” but it also works really well, at least where I need it most: the bangs. Most dry shampoos leave mine just as stringy and limp as before I applied it, and this stuff actually makes them look soft and full again. Bonus (to me): it smells like cinnamon and clove. -Claire

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