Magic number of memoirs Prince Harry must sell to break even

Rumours of the state of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s finances have been circling for months and now it has been revealed just how many copies of Spare Harry will need to sell to turn a profit.

A mere month after the release of the couple’s bombshell Netflix docuseries, Harry is due to release his highly anticipated memoir Spare and an analysis has revealed how many copies need to be sold for the book to be worthwhile.

Daily Mail reported the book’s publisher, Penguin Random House made a GBP$20 million (NZ$38m) deal for rights to the book with former Hollywood Reporter books editor Andy Lewis claiming they will need to sell 1.7 million copies for the deal to pay off.

He went on to say the book – which will be sold both online and in print – will also need that many sales before it breaks into the top 15 charts in the USA and becomes a best-seller in Britain.

Breaking down the figures on his Substack The Optionist account, Lewis predicted Spare must sell 1.3 million print copies and 400,000 e-books globally for Penguin Random House’s deal to turn a profit and the company will have to rely on “relatively modest sales from further books included in the deal.”

Spare will be released in New Zealand on January 11. Photo / AP

Daily Mail reported the agreement between the Sussexes and the publisher includes three more books, one of which could be co-written with the Duchess.

However, it’s expected any further books will not receive the same amount of hype as Spare has as it’s anticipated the upcoming memoir will include bombshell claims from Harry about the Royal family – including claims of racism, bullying and Meghan’s treatment as a working royal.

While the book is currently reaching chart-topping status in both the US and the UK, it’s unclear just how much profit the Duke and Duchess will take from it personally as Hello Magazine reported last year Harry will be donating a large portion of the proceeds to charities that are close to his heart.

After multiple delays, Penguin Random House announced in October that the memoir would finally hit shelves in January and went on to describe it as an account told with “raw, unflinching honesty” and filled with “insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief”.

The 416-page book will come out in 16 languages and also will be released in an audio edition read by Prince Harry.

Spare is currently being sold on pre-order in New Zealand and is due to hit shelves on January 11.