LONDON: Britain’s Prince Harry’s memoir will be published on Jan 10 with the title “SPARE” and will tell with “raw unflinching honesty” his journey from “trauma to healing,” publisher Penguin Random House said on Thursday. Penguin Random House drew on memories of the stunning 1997 death of Prince Harry’s mother, Diana, and the subsequent image of Harry and his brother “walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow and horror.”
The memoir’s title is an apparent reference to “the heir and the spare,” a phrase often used to describe royal siblings. Harry’s brother, William, is now Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne. When Harry was born, he was right behind William in the line of succession but has since been pushed down. Their father, King Charles III, assumed the throne upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September.
We are excited to announce the remarkably personal and emotionally powerful story of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex.
SPARE, the highly anticipated #PrinceHarryMemoir, will be published on January 10, 2023. Learn more at https://t.co/L0I4CT4flH pic.twitter.com/iqdBjBwkWE
— Random House Group (@randomhouse) October 27, 2022
Penguin Random House’s announcement also included a statement from Harry, which reads “I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” he said. “I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story – the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned – I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.”
According to the Duke of Sussex’s publishers, “SPARE” will be packed with “insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.” It said “SPARE will be released simultaneously in print and digital formats in North America by Random House US and Random House Canada, and in the United Kingdom by Transworld.
A Spanish-language edition, titled SPARE: EN LA SOMBRA will be published by Plaza & Janés/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. In all, the book will be issued in 16 languages worldwide.
The book was widely expected to be released this autumn, but it’s thought the publishers pushed back the date after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Within hours of Thursday’s announcement, “Spare” was in the top 10 on Amazon.com’s bestseller list.
