The Duke of Sussex’s controversial memoir has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever as his tell-all tale lambasting the royal family was finally published.
Harry’s headline-grabbing autobiography Spare, which hit the shelves on Tuesday, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up, its publisher said.
The book includes claims that the UK's Prince of Wales physically attacked him and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales.
In a US broadcast promoting the work, Harry branded the Duchess of Cornwall the "villain" and "dangerous", accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his.
Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said: "We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations.
"As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter)."
As the duke continued a run of high-profile promotional interviews, he said he "would like nothing more" than for his children to have relationships with the royal family.
His remarks about his son and daughter came despite the criticism he has levelled at his brother William, father Charles and stepmother Camilla.
In his first print interview about his autobiography, he told US magazine People that Archie, three, and 19-month-old Lili did have a connection with some of the Windsors, whom he did not name, saying this brought him "great joy".
He also described his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as his "guardian angel" and said she is with him "all the time".
Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday to offer Harry’s book – but queues were sparse after leaks ahead of the publication, with industry experts predicting Spare would be one of the best-selling pre-order titles of the past decade.
In his interview with People magazine, which featured a flattering photoshoot, Harry said of his book, which was ghostwritten by JR Moehringer: "I don’t want to tell anyone what to think of it, and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey.
"It’s a raw account of my life — the good, the bad and everything in between."
Archie and Lili are the grandchildren of the King, but live thousands of miles away from the Windsors in California, and the duke has confessed that he has not spoken to Charles in "quite a while", and is not in text contact with William at the moment.
He told People: "I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy."
Source: Press Association
