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Prince Harry’s Spare is the book that everyone’s talking about – read it now

The only way to form your own opinion on the memoir’s contents is to order a copy for yourself

Eva Waite-Taylor,Daisy Lester
Thursday 12 January 2023 11:31 GMT
The bombshell title is out now, so get reading
The bombshell title is out now, so get reading (Samuel Mathewson/Getty/The Independent)

From a physical clash with his brother Prince William and admissions of drug-taking to his relationship with his step-mother the now Queen Consort and experiences in the army, Prince Harry’s new memoir Spare (£14, Amazon.co.uk) is brimming with bombshell revelations about the royal family. The book is out now in 16 different languages and an audiobook (£7.99, Audible.co.uk) read by the prince himself. According to Transworld Penguin Random House, the title is the fastest-selling non-fiction book and sold more than 1.4 million copies on its release day.

Hot on the heels of the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, the Duke of Sussex has been busy forging a media career outside the royal family since leaving the institution in February 2021. The book – which has been ghostwritten by Pulitzer Prize winner JR Moehringer – touches on everything from the death of his mother, Princess Diana, to his relationship with his late great aunt, Princess Margaret, who he described as displaying “coldness” towards him.

No stone is left unturned, with the covering intimate details about his life, including claims that Prince William “grabbed” Prince Harry, ripping his necklace and knocking him “to the floor” during an argument over his marriage to Meghan Markle with William calling her “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”. Similarly, he opened up about his experiences with a frostbitten penis at William’s wedding.

Prince Harry also speaks candidly about his grief and reveals he drove through the same Paris tunnel where his mother was involved in a car crash that caused her death in 1997. “I got the closure I was pretending to seek. I got it in spades. And now I’d never be able to get rid of it,” he writes. “I’d thought driving the tunnel would bring an end, or brief cessation, to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain. Instead, it brought on the start of Pain, Part Deux.”

While plenty was revealed about the new bombshell title ahead of publication, if you want to form your own opinion on Prince Harry and get your hands on the book that everyone is talking about, read on for everything there is to know about the title, including how you can order it now.

‘Spare’ by Prince Harry, published by Penguin Random House

prince harry.png

When will Prince Harry’s memoir be released?

The book many people have been waiting for is out now – it was published on 10 January. Despite speculation that Prince Harry was not going to publish his tell-all memoir, Penguin Random House confirmed in October 2022 that the autobiography would be going ahead.

What is Prince Harry’s memoir about?

According to Penguin Random House, Spare is Harry’s side of the story about his life within the Royal Family. Taking us on a journey through his life, the autobiography starts in the days around the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and it is said to be written with “raw, unflinching honesty”.

Speculation and rumours suggest it will be a bombshell for the royals, but it is reportedly written with Harry’s warmth. A source close to the book revealed to The Sunday Times it is particularly tough on Prince William, whereas King Charles comes out better.

In an explosive first extract obtained by The Guardian, Harry reportedly claims: “[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me.”

Harry reportedly writes that William told him to fight back, but Harry refused, and William left, before returning “looking regretful, and apologised”.

In The Independent’s review of Spare, the memoir was given four out of five stars and was described as a “chaotic but stylish memoir that sets fire to the royal family”.

But, really, the only way to find out more about what Harry claims went on behind closed doors it is by ordering the prince’s new book now and reading it for yourself.

How to order Prince Harry’s memoir

Spare is available to order now from all major book retailers, including Waterstones, Amazon and WHSmith. You can also order the audiobook – read by Prince Harry himself – on Audible from £7.99 (Audible.co.uk) with a subscription or for £39.99 without a membership plan.

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