Prince Harry’s memoir is ALREADY being advertised for half-price at £14 by WHSmith – three months before it hits the shelves
- The 416-page autobiography is finally expected to hit the shelves on January 10
- Publisher Penguin Random House has promised ‘raw, unflinching honesty’
- Harry was reportedly paid a $20million (£18.4million) advance for the book
- But some retailers have already cut the book to half-price for pre-order copies
Prince Harry’s new memoir Spare is being advertised at half-price by WHSmith – three months before it is due to be released.
The 416-page autobiography is finally expected to hit the shelves on January 10 following speculation that the initially targeted autumn date had been pushed back as a mark of respect towards the Queen.
The Duke of Sussex is also said to have requested a number of last minute alterations in a bid to tone down the book amid fears his final draft ‘might not go down too well’ in the wake of the monarch’s death.
Publisher Penguin Random House has promised ‘raw, unflinching honesty’ in the ‘intimate and heartfelt memoir’, with Harry reportedly paid a $20million (£18.4million) advance for the book as part of a three-title deal worth £36.8m.
But some retailers have already cut the book to half-price for pre-order copies.
It includes popular book retailer WHSmith, which is now advertising Spare at £14 – half the recommended retail price of £28.
Its title page, shown on a new website advertising the book, shows Harry staring sternly at the camera in a brown T-shirt and a black string necklace
Popular book retailer WHSmith is now advertising Spare at £14 – half the recommended retail price of £28
Harry and Meghan pictured arriving on the long Walk at Windsor Castle to view flowers and tributes to the Queen last month
Spare, which is available to pre-order, will cost £28 hardcover, £13.99 as an eBook, £20 as an audio download and £25 as a CD. It will be released simultaneously in the US, UK and Canada, with 15 foreign language editions, including one in Spanish entitled Spare: En La Sombra (Spare: In The Shadow)
Prince Harry will give £1.6m from sales of memoir ‘Spare’ to two UK children’s charities
Prince Harry has donated £1.6milion of proceeds from his upcoming autobiography to charities, including one founded in honour of Princess Diana’s memory.
The Duke’s tell-all tome – which comes out on January 10 – will benefit both Sentebale and WellChild.
Harry’s book, which carries the title Spare, costs £28 so will need to shift at least 57,000 copies to make up the sum. At the moment retailers Waterstones and WH Smith are selling it for half price at £14.
The Duke of Sussex co-founded Sentebale in 2006 to help vulnerable children in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi, including those who are affected by extreme poverty and the HIV/Aids epidemic.
Harry first visited Lesotho in 2004, while shadowed by broadcaster Tom Bradby. He and Prince Seeiso have since appeared at numerous events together, including a concert held at Kensington Palace in 2016 on behalf of Sentebale.
In January 2020, the duke made an emotional speech during a formal private dinner at the Ivy in Chelsea for Sentebale about his decision to walk away from his royal duties with Meghan Markle.
The prince spoke of his ‘great sadness’ at leaving the Royal Family and said he and Meghan had ‘no other option’ than to quit senior duties – but vowed the couple are ‘not just walking away’.
Two weeks ago Harry spoke to winners of the 2022 WellChild Awards and their families from the US, and apologised for missing the ceremony and not being able to meet them in person.
At one point, Harry appeared visibly moved when told that his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales would have been so proud of him.
He also described how the UK was ‘going through a lot right now’, with the general population wanting to help each other out – but said there were ‘certain other fractions that make that tricky for people’. Harry did not make clear to what he was referring.
During the video chat, Harry spoke to each of the winners in turn, including Tony Hudgell, who raised £1.7m for the hospital that treated the injuries he sustained following vile abuse at the hands of his birth parents.
The eye-catching title is a nod to Harry’s nickname as a ‘spare’ prince – in contrast to his brother William, the heir to the throne.
Its title page, shown on a new website advertising the book, shows Harry staring sternly at the camera in a brown T-shirt and a black string necklace.
The publication date was announced in a press release today, which referred to Harry as a ‘husband, father, humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate and environmentalist’ who ‘resides in Santa Barbara, California, with his family and three dogs’.
‘Spare takes readers immediately back to one of the most searing images of the Twentieth Century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow — and horror,’ the release said.
‘As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is his story at last. With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.’
Royal author Richard Fitzwilliams today suggested the Royal Family would be ‘very concerned’ by how the book was being promoted.
‘It is a sensational title and implies that the writer was not valued or certainly that he did not feel at the centre of events,’ he told MailOnline.
‘When the blurb speaks of ”raw, unflinching honesty” the Palace will be very concerned, especially since these are the early months of King Charles’s reign.
‘There will undoubtedly be interviews, serialisation and endless speculation about this memoir, which in my view should have waited many years. Even Edward VIII, by then the Duke of Windsor, waited until 1951 before A King’s Story was published. The consequences of this will be far-reaching and may be highly destructive.’
Harry faces a battle between further damaging an already strained relationship with his family and potentially hurting book sales by holding back on any claims.
However aides are braced for the worst, particularly after Harry’s outspoken criticisms of his family and the monarchy.
During the Sussexes’ notorious interview with Oprah Winfrey last year, they accused the Royal Family of racism and Harry claimed Charles had ‘literally cut me off financially’.
Harry is said to have been further upset at some of the events surrounding the Queen’s death.
Lawyers to the Royal Family at the firm Harbottle and Lewis are expected to be on standby to read the book when it comes out.
Random House CEO Markus Dohle said today: ‘We are honoured to be publishing Prince Harry’s candid and emotionally powerful story for readers everywhere.
‘He shares a remarkably moving personal journey from trauma to healing, one that speaks to the power of love and will inspire and encourage millions of people around the world.’
The description appears to be more negative than Harry’s description of the book in July last year. Then, he said: ‘I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become.
‘I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story – the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned – I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.’
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