Prince Harry’s memoir Spare officially hits bookshops

Waterstones said Prince Harry’s book has been one of its ‘biggest pre-order titles for a decade’

Prince Harry’s memoir Spare has officially been released in bookshops.

In London, stores opened at midnight to meet the demand for the Duke of Sussex’s controversial memoir, after it went on sale on Tuesday (10 January).

According to BBC, Waterstones said Prince Harry’s book has been one of its “biggest pre-order titles for a decade”.

The booksellers opened their St James’s branch early on Tuesday in expectation of high customer demand, as the book was published around the world in 16 languages including an audiobook narrated by Prince Harry himself.

Other bookshops such as WHSmith also extended their hours for the release in locations including Euston, Victoria, Heathrow, and Gatwick.

The Duke of Sussex’s memoir had already hit the No 1 spot on many bestsellers lists ahead of its release date.

It contains a number of explosive claims about the duke’s life inside palace walls and his relationship with the British royal family.

The highly anticipated memoir made headlines earlier this week when it accidentally went on sale in Spain, days ahead of its official publication date.

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Among the most shocking extracts from Spare are details of an alleged physical fight between Prince Harry and Prince William, the moment Harry learnt of Princess Diana’s death, his illegal drug use, and the last words he said to Queen Elizabeth II on her deathbed.

Despite excerpts being leaked ahead of its release date, Spare has remained a source of interest and has topped many bestseller charts.

Prince Harry shared details about the book during his two televised interviews with ITV’s Tom Bradbury and 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper, which both aired on Sunday 8 January.

His nearly two-hour long conversation with Bradbury included Harry narrating excerpts from the book which, according to one royal biographer, “could mark the beginning of the end” of the monarchy.

While speaking to Bradbury, Harry opened up about his decision to publish the “personal and moving” memoir, launched a scathing attack on the UK press, and clarified some recent headlines about Spare.

Follow live updates about Prince Harry’s new memoir here.