Status: 01/11/2023 08:45 a.m
Prince Harry probably can’t quite match the sales figures for Harry Potter, but his book “Spare” is a bestseller in Great Britain on the first day. According to the publisher, more than 400,000 copies were sold.
Prince Harry’s memoirs “Spare” (German: “Reserve”) stormed the bestseller list on the first day of sale. The publishing house Transworld, which belongs to the publishing giant Penguin Random House, gave the number of editions sold in all formats – i.e. hardcover, e-book and audio book – at 400,000 for the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
“We always knew this book would fly, but it exceeds even our most optimistic expectations,” said publishing executive Larry Finlay.
Hype about Harry Potter was much bigger
“As far as we know, the only books that have sold better on their first day are those starring the other Harry” – meaning Harry Potter. The last volume of the famous fantasy series about the sorcerer’s apprentice – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – had sold more than 2.5 million copies on the day of its publication in 2007.
When Prince Harry’s book went on sale, some bookshops in Great Britain were already open on Tuesday night. Long queues are said to have failed.
The more than 500-page autobiography, which Prince Harry penned with the help of ghostwriter JR Moehringer, includes his perspective on the tensions within the royal family and many personal details. It will appear in 16 languages at the start of sales.
The book was erroneously available in Spanish bookstores for a short time last week, so parts of the content have already been made public.
Details on sex, drugs and anti-Taliban action
Passages in which Harry describes his first sex, drug use in his youth and a violent argument with his older brother Prince William caused a great stir. He also claims to have killed 25 Taliban fighters during his Afghanistan operation – which has drawn dissent from both the Taliban and British veterans.
Penguin Random House is said to have paid Harry millions of dollars for his memoirs. The book follows the six-part Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, in which the couple also opened up about their feuds with the royal family and dislike of the British media. Both also gave several detailed interviews to the media in the USA.
Officially, Buckingham Palace has so far remained silent on the allegations and revelations made in the book.