Relief for royals amid revelation Prince Harry’s paperback version of Spare won’t be updated
Prince Harry is finally set to bring out the paperback edition of his vitriolic memoir, Spare.
However, the royal family is likely to breathe a sigh of relief after it was announced by his publisher that the book would not be updated from its hardback form, a somewhat unusual move for an international bestseller.
Unfortunately, however, its October release will clash with King Charles’s high-profile appearance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, the first time he has attended since acceding the throne and becoming head of the global organisation.
The meeting will be held from October 21-25 with Harry’s paperback being published in the US on October 22 and then the UK two days later.
Buckingham Palace announced back in July that the monarch planned to attend despite his continuing cancer treatment as part of an autumn tour that will also take in Australia.
The reissue of Spare will reignite bombshell claims made by the prince against his estranged family including allegations that Prince William broke his necklace and shoved him onto a dog bowl which smashed during a particularly explosive row.
He recalled numerous private family conversations between himself, his father and brother, and shone a spotlight on difficulties between his wife and the then Duchess of Cambridge – including Kate’s reaction to Meghan saying she had “baby brain”.
Harry also used the book to take aim at the now-Queen Camilla, labelling her “dangerous” and a “villain”, claiming she had “sacrificed me on her personal PR altar”.
Publishers Penguin Random House announced on Monday that Spare’s new imprint would be published in 16 languages worldwide.
Questions had been raised as to whether Harry would update the paperback with a new chapter, considering how much has happened in the last year.
In that time, his relationship with his family has continued to break down, the King has been diagnosed with cancer – which saw Harry make a transatlantic dash to London to see his father for barely 30 minutes – and his children, Archie and Lilibet, have become a prince and princess.
The fact that Harry has chosen not to add to the revelations may be seen by some as an attempt to try to smooth over family ructions.
Spare, first published on January 10 last year, became an instant publishing sensation and sold more than six million copies across the world.
It holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time.
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