Prince Harry’s ‘unflinching’ memoir, Spare, to be published in January

Prince Harry’s highly anticipated memoir, titled Spare, is to be published in January.

The book was originally due to be released in late 2022, and when it was announced Harry promised it would be a “firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful”.

Publisher Penguin Random House said the book takes readers “immediately back to one of the most searing images of the 20th century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow – and horror”

The cover art for Spare. Photograph: Penguin Random House

“With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief,” said the publisher.

Spare will be released on 10 January in 16 languages worldwide, and an audiobook read by Prince Harry will be released on the same day.

Markus Dohle, global CEO of Penguin Random House, said Prince Harry “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”.

Prince Harry’s proceeds from Spare will be given to charity. He has given $1.5m to Sentebale, an organisation he founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in their mothers’ legacies, which supports vulnerable children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana affected by HIV/Aids.

He will also donate £300,000 to WellChild, an organisation that makes it possible for children and young people with complex health needs to be cared for at home instead of hospital. He has been a patron of WellChild for 15 years.

When announcing the memoir in 2021, Prince Harry said he was writing the book “not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become”.

“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,” he added. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the course of my life so far and excited for people to read a firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”

The book is expected to cover from childhood to the present day, including the prince’s time in the military and serving in Afghanistan, and his life as a husband and father.

The Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan have been the subjects of a number of books written by others in recent years.

Among them are journalist Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s Finding Freedom, an unofficial biography of the couple. A follow-up by Scobie, which is as yet untitled, is due to be released next year.

Tom Bower’s Revenge, subtitled Meghan, Harry and the War between the Windsors, came out earlier this year, with Bower interviewing Markle’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, for the book.