Everything We Know About Prince Harry’s New Memoir, ‘Spare’

Penguin Random House has released the cover of Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir, titled Spare, nearly one year after the book was announced in July 2021. Since then, quite a lot has unfolded for the Duke of Sussex, including the loss of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen passed away this September, bringing Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, back to the U.K. for an extended mourning period and state funeral.

The book is planned for release on January 20, 2023. Its title is a reference to the unofficial aristocratic policy of producing an “heir and a spare.” Harry was the second son of King Charles and his late ex-wife, Princess Diana. Prince William of Wales is the current heir to the throne, followed now by his sons, George and Louis.

“Penguin Random House is honored to be publishing Prince Harry’s candid and emotionally powerful story for readers everywhere,” the global CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement. “He shares a remarkably moving personal journey from trauma to healing, one that speaks to the power of love and will inspire and encourage millions of people around the world.”

The book promises to be an account of Harry’s life that is “raw” and full of “unflinching honesty,” along with “insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.”

Spare will go back as far as Harry’s memories of walking behind his mother’s coffin in 1997 after she died in a tragic car accident while trying to evade the paparazzi with boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed.

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“As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on,” the statement added. “For Harry, this is his story at last.”

Harry has been in an ongoing conflict with the royal family since his decision to leave for California with Meghan, after requesting to limit their duties as working royal members of the family. The former Suits star was under extreme pressure and scrutiny from the British tabloids, and alleged racism from the family itself. Harry feared for her safety. Their compromise was supposedly rejected, and the couple told Oprah Winfrey in a March 2021 tell-all interview that they were cut off financially.

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Harry and Meghan have since established themselves in the U.S. and launched numerous projects, including Meghan’s successful Archetypes podcast with Spotify, a Netflix production deal, and their nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation. (The organization is named after their first born, Archie; they also share a daughter, named Lilibet.)

The book clocks in at 416 pages and will be published in 16 languages. Harry will be narrating the audiobook himself. It was not disclosed how much Harry will be making off the book deal, but he has promised to donate proceeds to British charities.