When Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare came out in hardback in January 2023, it was met with fanfare and zigzagging queues of eager readers waiting to hear his account of life as a royal.
The book shot off the shelves, selling over a million copies across the combined UK, US, and Canadian markets by January 31, 2023, according to the New York Times.
However, a month after the release of the paperback edition, the once-must-have memoir has been relegated to little more than a stocking filler. Despite its release on October 24, Spare in paperback is languishing in 73rd in the charts, selling just 3000 copies in its second week.
But, there may be an explanation for the paperback’s apparent flop.
Unlike the hardback edition, which saw the California Prince in full promotion mode, appearing on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper, the paperback edition received no such media attention.
What’s more, publisher Penguin Random House confirmed that there had been no update to the text since its hardback release in January 2023.
That’s particularly unusual for the re-release of a best-selling book, and one royal expert believes the absence of any juicy new anecdotes taking aim at the Firm, hints at Prince Harry’s desire to return to the fold.
Royal pundit Phil Dampier previously told The Sun: “The paperback version of Spare has come out hasn’t it during this last couple of weeks. Normally you would have added in a couple of sensational headline-grabbing stories [into the] paperback version of a book.
“He would have done more TV work and more promotional work” had he wished it to be a commercial success, Mr Dampier said.
“[He] didn’t do that this time, so you know again that’s an indication that they are reining back off it and he’s probably realised that he’s not going to build any bridges unless he sort of cools it down a bit.”
