Monitoring Desk
LONDON: Around 1.4 million English-language copies of Prince Harry’s autobiography “Spare” were sold on the first day in the United Kingdom, Canada and the US, publisher Penguin Random House said Thursday.
The sales figures were out as the first opinion poll since the ‘Spare’ publication showed Harry’s popularity in the United Kingdom continues to nosedive. The headline-grabbing book was published on Tuesday also accompanied by four high-profile promotional interviews with prince Harry.
The revelations included Harry’s claim that his brother Prince William physically attacked him in a row some three years back (2019) and that the brothers begged their father not to marry Camilla.
Harry (38), a former soldier also revealed he had killed 25 Taliban during his time in Afghanistan. The comment sparked condemnation from military personnel and the Taliban. Parts of the book that were widely leaked continued to fill airtime, newspapers and web pages.
“Spare” far more than celebrity memoir
Speaking about the sales, Group Gina Centrello, president and publisher of the Random House in a statement said that “Spare” was far more than a celebrity memoir. “Spare’ is the story of someone we may have thought we already knew, but now we can truly come to understand Prince Harry through his own words,” she said. Looking at what can be describned as the extraordinary first-day sales, readers agree that ‘Spare’ is a book that demands to be read,” she added.
Harry and his American wife Meghan dramatically quit royal life and moved to California in 2020 and have complained bitterly about their treatment in the UK.
“Spare” was published in a total of 16 languages globnally and released simultaneously in digital formats and print in in the United Kingdom by Transworld, North America by Random House US and Random House in Canada. The royal family has not yet commented on the memoir.
