Prince Harry’s book Spare landed in stores worldwide on Tuesday, and it seems as though the former royal’s sales are doing pretty well.
Harry’s tell-all memoir explores many subjects, and includes criticism of his brother, Prince William, stepmother, Camilla, his father, now-King Charles, and his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. He also wrote extensively about his mother, Princess Diana, and her butler, Paul Burrell.
Diana and Paul were famously close, and pretty much became best friends. Over the years, Burrell has spoken out several times about his relationship with the late princess, revealing private letters from her and offering his opinion on various royal subjects.
Yet in Spare, Harry slammed Burrell, saying the former butler has ulterior motives for talking about Diana. In Harry’s opinion, it’s not because he wants to be famous, but rather because he wants money.
It’s been a hectic week for Prince Harry. At the weekend, two brand new interviews – one with 60 Minutes and one with ITV – aired in countries worldwide. Then, on Tuesday, his long-awaited tell-all book Spare was released.
Harry release his tell-all book ‘Spare’
Harry is reportedly netting about $20 million for the book deal. Just two days after its release, it certainly seems like interest is high.
As reported by Express, Spare is on its way to setting a new record as the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever, according to his publisher Penguin Random House. The book sold 400,000 copies on the first day alone across physical, e-book, and audio formats.
“We always knew this book would fly, but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations,” Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said.
“As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).”
On the UK Amazon site, Harry’s memoir is already the top-selling publication and is expected to be the biggest seller of 2023.
Naturally, though, despite the fact that Harry’s book has been highly anticipated, not everyone is excited about what he has to say. The Express report that the Prince’s interview with ITV on Sunday had around 4.1 million viewers. At the same time, the BBC aired the drama Happy Valley, which had about 5.3 million viewers.
While the interview might not have been the most watched program in the UK, interest in other parts of the world was more extensive.
The ITV interview has aired in 77 territories worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Brazil.
In his book, Harry offers a new side to his feelings about royal life – the life he left after more than 30 years to being anew in the US with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their children, Archie and Lilibet.
Harry’s last phone call with Princess Diana
Of course, Harry younger years were forever scarred when he lost his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash.
Over the years, Harry has spoken about his beloved mother many times. In the HBO documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, he recalled the last phone call he ever had with his mother, on the same day she tragically passed away.
“I can’t really necessarily remember what I said, but all I do remember is probably regretting for the rest of my life, how short that call was,” Harry said.
“If I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother the things that I would – the things I would have said to her.”
Harry added: “There’s not a day that William and I don’t wish that she was still around, and we wonder what kind of a mother she would be now, and what kind of a public role she would have, and what a difference she would be making.”
Princess Diana was loved by people all over the world. Sadly, she was hounded by the British tabloids, who paid ridiculous amounts of money for pictures of her.
Harry accuses Diana’s butler of “milking” her death for money
While Harry and William didn’t have a bad relationship with Burrell, things changed when Harry, at 19, worked as an unpaid farmhand in Australia.
As mentioned, Burrell has been very outspoken about his life within the royal sphere and his friendship with Diana. But in 2003, his relationship with her children came crashing down.
In his 2003 book, A Royal Duty, Burrell published several private revelations which left Harry furious. He and his brother even released a statement accusing Burrell of “a cold and overt betrayal.”
Paul responded by suggesting a meeting with Harry and William to justify his book. Moreover, he wanted to tell them more about the side of their mother’s life that they had not witnessed.
“I’d love to give them a piece of my mind,” he added.
From that day on, Harry and Paul were at odds with one another. In Spare, Harry lashed out at his mother’s former butler, saying he was “milking” his mother’s death for money. Harry said that the release of A Royal Duty “made his blood boil.”
Harry recalled that at the time, he had received word via a package from the Palace warning him of the “delicate matter.”
