After months of anticipation and a sustained publicity blitz, Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare finally went on sale in his native UK on Tuesday.
After months of anticipation and a sustained publicity blitz, Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare finally went on sale in his native UK on Tuesday, threatening more embarrassment for the royal family.
Some British stores stayed open late for the midnight release of the biggest royal book since Harry’s mother Princess Diana collaborated with Andrew Morton for Diana: Her True Story in 1992.
The publication has been accompanied by four television interviews in the UK and the United States, where Harry now lives with wife Meghan.
But the contents of the ghost-written memoir, which will be available in 16 languages and as an audiobook, have already been widely leaked after copies mistakenly went on sale early in Spain.
The book contains a claim from Harry that his brother William physically attacked him as they argued about Meghan, according to those who got their hands on one of those copies.
It also gives an account of how he lost his virginity, an admission of teenage drug use and a claim he killed 25 people while serving in Afghanistan with the British military, which earned him a rebuke from hardline Islamists the Taliban.
At a bookshop in London’s Victoria train station, workers pulled fresh copies of the book from their packaging at the stroke of midnight.
First in line was Chris Imafidon, chair of an education charity, who said he wanted to hear about Harry’s life “from the horse’s mouth”.
