Prince Harry’s memoir promises ‘raw, unflinching honesty‘ about many aspects of his life so far – from his time in Afghanistan to his late mother Diana – and more ‘truth bombs’ for the royal family.
The Duke of Sussex‘s book, titled Spare, is set to be published on January 10 – just four months after the death of the Queen on September 8.
Publisher Penguin Random House says Harry’s book is expected to contain explosive new material addressing the duke’s childhood and his rift with ‘The Firm’ after meeting Meghan.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline: ‘It is not a question as to whether Harry has a right to release his memoir, it is whether it is helpful to the Royal Family which he is part of and also, surely, whether it will benefit the Sussexes in their desire for a philanthropic image.
‘Since they derive their work from being royals, shouldn’t they be supportive? If there has been no rewriting after the Queen’s death, perhaps there should have been.
‘Why write a “raw” and “unflinchingly honest” memoir now, so early in his father’s reign, if not for commercial gain?’
Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare is due to be released next week
The book is expected to have explosive new material addressing Harry’s childhood and his rift with ‘The Firm’ after meeting Meghan
The title of the book – what does ‘Spare’ mean?
The concept of ‘the heir and the spare’ has been observed by the Royal Family for centuries, as a tradition which ensures the royal bloodline is able to continue. An unusual position to hold, the role serves as a ‘reserve’ monarch, who must be prepared to become heir to the throne at a moment’s notice if necessary – at least until the current heir produces their own children.
Heather Cocks, author of The Heir Affair, told Vanity Fair last year: ‘With an heir and spare dynamic, you get one child who’s born for the top job and the second who probably grows up feeling like the understudy.’
The boldness of Harry’s ‘provocative’ decision to call his memoir ‘Spare’ sets out he is ‘anything but’ second to Prince William- and the royal wants his ‘unpolished’ cover to show he’s ‘been through a lot’, a brand expert has claimed.
The eye-catching title is a nod to Harry’s nickname as a ‘spare’ prince – in contrast to his brother Prince William – the ‘heir’.
The Spanish language version is even more pointed, having been given the subtitle En La Sombra, or ‘in the shade’.
Culture and brand expert Nick Ede told FEMAIL: ‘The choice of the title Spare is not only provocative but also lends into Harry’s sense of humour too.
‘Although it is a bold choice, it’s a brave one and it sets out immediately that this book will be anything but showing that Prince Harry is a spare.’
He added: ‘The use of the singular title is one of empowerment and strength.
How could Spare affect Harry’s relationship with his brother William?
Prince Harry’s ties with William ‘hang by a thread’ ahead of the publication of his tell-all memoir, sources said.
Insiders fear the strained relationship between the brothers is likely to be further damaged by attacks on the Prince of Wales and his wife Kate in the controversial book.
The Duke of Sussex is expected to claim in Spare how unfair it was that he was always forced to play ‘second fiddle’ to his older brother.
The memoir is said to be ‘tough on William’ and includes a description of a fight between the pair, as well as ‘a broadside’ against Kate.
A source said: ‘Things are hanging by a thread as it is after the past few months, and from the sounds of it Harry’s memoir is unlikely to help.’
Insiders fear the strained relationship between the brothers is likely to be further damaged by attacks on Prince William and his wife Kate in the controversial book. Pictured: Prince William and Prince Harry walk beside each other after viewing the floral tributes for the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Windsor Castle on September 10
Prince William, Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan leave after paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth II at her lying-in state in September
The Mail has previously reported that while friends find it hard to believe that the brothers will never talk again after all they have been through, William feels betrayed and angered by his brother’s constant attacks on the Royal Family.
There is also deep concern that anything they say privately could be made public by Harry or Meghan.
A source with knowledge of the book told The Sunday Times they believed it would cause irrevocable damage to the brothers’ relationship.
The source said: ‘Generally, I think the book [will be] worse for them than the Royal Family is expecting. Everything is laid bare. Charles comes out of it better than I expected, but it’s tough on William in particular, and even Kate gets a bit of a broadside.
‘There are these minute details, and a description of the fight between the brothers. I personally can’t see how Harry and William will be able to reconcile after this.’
The book will effectively be about the sibling rivalry between Princes Harry and William, a source told the Sun.
They said it will reveal that Harry’s ‘bitterness and feelings of unfairness’ due to his older brother’s birthright to become King means he has always ‘played second fiddle to older William’.
But their mother Princess Diana warned the siblings they ‘must never fall out’ as they would need each other, the source said. They added that it was ‘very sad’ the brothers’ falling out had got this far.
How does King Charles fare in the tell-all memoir?
The King is said to fare better than his eldest son, but is already wounded by criticisms of him and other senior royals in Harry’s Netflix series with wife Meghan.
Harry has reportedly been warned that tarnishing the reputation of Camilla, Queen Consort, is a ‘red line’ for his father King Charles.
Royal commentators said the release of Prince Harry’s book would be ‘unhelpful’ to King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort
Is Harry’s grief over Diana’s death explored in the book?
The Sunday Times source said the book explored Harry’s grief over the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
They said: ‘The overall impression is that this is a man who has never recovered from the trauma of his mother dying so young, and then along comes Meghan and he projects on to her a parallel with Diana.’
Harry will allegedly not shy away from sensitive subjects, such as his family’s decision to encourage him and his brother to walk behind their mother Diana’s coffin as thousands of members of the public looked on.
The press release announcing the memoir said: ‘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.’
Princess Diana with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry at the Heads of State VE Remembrance Service in Hyde Park on May 7, 1995
From left to right, Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and the then Prince of Wales wait as the hearse carrying Diana’s prepares to leave Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997
Has Buckingham Palace commented yet and how were members of the Royal Family kept informed?
While Buckingham Palace is refusing to comment or get caught up in a ‘pointless tit for tat’ public row with the Sussexes, there is a degree of ‘apprehension’ about Harry’s memoir.
After the couple delivered a salvo of explosive claims in their recent Netflix series, Harry’s autobiography is expected to stir up yet further controversy.
The Royal Family’s lawyers are said to be on standby for his memoir, over fears it is ‘critical of everyone and everything’.
Family members had not been informed of the title before its release date was announced on October 27.
Senior royals are said to be bracing themselves’ for the publication of the 416-page book.
Harry’s memoir was completed in around April last year – the same month that he and Meghan made a flying visit to the UK to see the Queen while en route to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands
What interviews will Harry do to promote his tell-all memoir?
The Duke of Sussex has shared details about his new book on a US TV show in a ‘revealing’ interview set to be aired on Sunday.
Harry is also understood to have already recorded a TV interview about his biography with ITV News at Ten’s Tom Bradby, according to The Sun.
Mr Bradby, a former royal correspondent for ITV, is a friend of the Sussexes and previously interviewed them for a documentary about their 2019 Africa tour.
Publishing sources also previously said Harry was expected to do at least one newspaper interview, potentially with The New York Times.
What did we learn from the CBS trailer for the chat with Anderson Cooper?
Harry discussed his upcoming memoir, Spare, during a conversation with Anderson Cooper on CBS News’ 60 Minutes programme.
It will air on CBS and will stream on Paramount +
The network has released a short trailer for the interview, describing it as ‘revealing’ and Harry’s biography, which comes out two days later, as ‘explosive’.
Harry with Cooper in a trailer that was released by the US network this morning
What does the trailer for Harry’s interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby reveal?
Prince Harry claimed his family had shown ‘no willingness to reconcile’, he would ‘like to have my father and brother back’ and ‘never complain, never explain’ is ‘just a motto’ as he launched a publicity blitz.
The Duke of Sussex sat down with ITV’s Tom Bradby before the release of Spare next week – with short previews of each dropping today.
Speaking to Bradby in a clip where no questions can be heard, Harry says ‘it never needed to be this way’ and refers to ‘the leaking and the planting’ before adding: ‘I want a family, not an institution’.
He also says, in an apparent reference to the royals, ‘they feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains’ and that ‘they have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile’.
Prince Harry’s ghostwriter is Pulitzer-winning journalist
J.R. Moehringer is a Pulitzer-winning journalist
J.R. Moehringer is a Pulitzer-winning journalist and writer who previously worked with Andre Agassi and Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, on their own money-spinning memoirs.
For tennis great Agassi’s book, Open, Moehringer spent more than 250 hours with his subject and even moved to Las Vegas to be near him.
He looked so extensively into Agassi and his background that the former player compared it to being on a psychiatrist’s couch for days at a time.
His own memoir, The Tender Bar, is being made into a film by George Clooney, who will direct. Moehringer’s own memoir told the story of his New York upbringing and how he spent it in a bar.
Moehringer has not commented on the partnership with Harry and it’s unclear how it came about. He lives in Berkley, California, around 300 miles from Harry and Meghan’s Montecito compound.
Before ghost-writing, Moehringer worked as a reporter for The New York Times and L.A. Times.
He was a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his story on Satterfield and he was awarded the prize for his story on Gee’s Bend, a river town in Alabama. The story also appeared in The Los Angeles Times.
When was the book written?
According to the Duchess of Sussex’s friend Omid Scobie, Harry’s memoir was completed around April last year – the same month that he and Meghan made a flying visit to the UK to see the Queen while en route to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands.
He claimed in an article for Yahoo that there were ‘no last-minute rewrites or edits’ after the Queen died, with the duke instead completing the book’s manuscript ‘almost five months before the monarch’s passing’.
Who wrote Harry’s memoir?
The controversial title for Prince Harry’s autobiography was his own choice and he has not changed the manuscript since the death of the Queen, according to Mr Scobie.
Writing in his column for Yahoo, Mr Scobie, who is known as a cheerleader for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, said that the ‘punchy’ choice of title for his book was ‘made by Prince Harry early on in the process’.
However, Harry is publishing the book despite the risk of ‘very serious blowback from the institution and family’ remaining a ‘very real risk’, he said.
Palace aides are said to fear that the book could cause ‘irrevocable damage’ to both ‘reputations and relations’.
Harry’s tell-all tale was written with JR Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who previously penned the biography of US tennis star Andre Agassi.
A source told The Sun: ‘The book has been back and forth between Harry and [ghost writer] JR Moehringer and the publishers a few times.
‘They wanted more than was in the first draft and then Harry wanted to refine things after the Queen passed away.
‘But there has been extra toing and froing that people don’t know about. This is because the publishers wanted more areas covered and more detail on some things that were already included.
‘There is a real concern that that means Harry has had to sex up the book and include revelations that he might not even be that comfortable with.’
The Duke of Sussex will personally narrate the audiobook version of the memoir and will donate some of the work’s proceeds to charity.
Will the book cover Harry’s dedication to the military which twice took him to Afghanistan?
The publication date was announced in a press release, 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’.
Penguin said the book would cover Harry’s ‘lifetime in the public eye from childhood to the present day, including his dedication to service, the military duty that twice took him to the frontlines of Afghanistan, and the joy he has found in being a husband and father’.
Prince Harry makes his early morning pre-flight checks at the British controlled flight-line at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in January 2013
Where can I get a copy – and for how much?
The memoir, 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 available in English in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Canada, while the book will also be published in 15 additional languages, including Spanish, Italian, German and Chinese.
What does the front cover say about Harry?
Culture and brand expert Nick Ede told FEMAIL: ‘The cover image is not one of him looking dapper and polished but one of him looking relaxed, stripped back and quietly confident.
‘It doesn’t rest on a stylised imaged but one that is him looking honestly into the camera ready to bear his vulnerabilities and story to the media.’
He said: ‘The detailed close-up image of Harry shows him as a strong handsome man with an earnest face looking point blank at the camera who is on a mission to tell his truth.
‘He is not suited and booted or too polished, with his tee and now familiar leather necklace on show.
‘It’s a strong commanding image of a man who’s been through a lot and who’s here to tell that story of grief and love in equal measure.’
Experts have said that the close-up image of Harry on the front shows ‘a strong handsome man’ who is ‘on a mission to tell his truth’
How much is the book deal worth – and how much will Harry donate to charity?
Prince Harry is said to have received a $20million advance for Spare.
A previous statement from Penguin Random House said he would donate some of his proceeds to charity.
‘Prince Harry wishes to support British charities with donations from his proceeds from Spare.
‘The Duke of Sussex has donated $1,500,000 to Sentebale, an organization he founded with Prince Seeiso in their mothers’ legacies, which supports vulnerable children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana affected by HIV/AIDS.
‘Prince Harry will also donate to the non-profit organization WellChild in the amount of £300,000. WellChild, which he has been patron of for 15 years, makes it possible for children and young people with complex health needs to be cared for at home instead of hospital, wherever possible.’
When will Meghan release her own memoir to follow?
The Royal Family is bracing itself for a fresh onslaught with Meghan now set to release her own memoir, according to reports.
The Duchess of Sussex is said to be preparing a tell-all book, hot on the heels of Harry’s autobiography.
One source said that the duchess ‘is contemplating getting entirely candid about her time in the royal limelight… and leaving no stone unturned’.
Meghan and Harry in their recent Netflix series