Prince Harry accused the Queen Consort, Camilla, of leaking a private conversation between William, Camilla and himself to the media.
Prince Harry’s explosive new memoir Spare finally hits shelves in New Zealand tomorrow.
Parts of the book have already been leaked online after it accidentally went on sale early in Spain, and Harry himself has given four revealing media interviews discussing the book’s contents in the days leading up to its release.
But despite so many revelations making headlines early - from details of Harry’s life growing up, to alleged physical fights with Prince William, frosty texts between Meghan Markle and Princess Kate, and casting Queen Consort Camilla as the “evil stepmother” - many Kiwis are still eager to read the book for themselves, say booksellers and librarians.
So, how many readers are expected to hit the libraries and bookshops of Aotearoa tomorrow to nab their own copy, pour themselves a cuppa, and immerse themselves in Harry’s life story?
Booksellers and librarians are gearing up for what could be a busy day. Across Auckland libraries, 993 people have the book on hold at the time of publication. By contrast, just 13 people have Pamela Anderson’s upcoming memoir Love, Pamela on hold, with January 31 the expected release date.
Mount Eden’s Time Out bookstore manager Jenna Todd told the Herald staff initially weren’t sure whether people would be interested in buying the book.
“We ordered this title for stock last year ... it was a bit of a gamble on our end. However, we’ve been pleasantly surprised at the number of pre-orders.”
While she couldn’t share details of sales, she added that “the number of general inquiries and interest” had been much higher than expected.
Once Spare is released, Prince Harry will have crossed the Rubicon with his family, writes royal watcher Diana Elser. Photo / AP
“The previews seem to have just heightened the interest. It seems [that] curious customers want the full context of the writing, which is always recommended.”
Melissa Oliver of Unity Books’ Wellington store says Spare is expected to be a big seller.
“We definitely expect to sell out and continue to carry and sell consistently the book throughout the year,” she tells the Herald.
And despite the fact that they haven’t received as many pre-orders as they anticipated, Oliver notes the Willis St store is a central location and expects most people will either pop in on their way past or head in store to pick up their copies.
Regarding the leaked details of the prince’s memoir, she thinks people will still want to read the entire tome for themselves and form their own opinions on it.
Owner of online bookshop Bookety Book Books Mandy Myles has already sold over half her stock in pre-orders.
Prince Harry's memoir was released early in Spain. Photo / AP
“It’s great to see the interest ahead of the release,” she says. “We’ve ordered conservatively to start as it can be hard to gauge if this will land with our target market and then we will order from there.”
Myles thinks the leaked content will either draw in more people who didn’t initially intend to read the book, or put other readers off entirely.
“The leaked content was going to come out, regardless of whether it was on the release date or the week ahead. However, it’s now clear that Prince Harry is spilling the tea, so at least the big question of ‘will he really reveal anything?’ has been answered,” she notes.
“Only time will tell but it sure does sound juicy.”
It’s the promise of “juicy” details that keeps drawing us back to celebrity memoirs like Prince Harry’s, she says.
“Celebrity lives are fascinating and we love the unbridled insights we seem to only get through these memoirs. And no celebrity life is more shrouded in secrecy than that of the royals.”
