Prince Harry's Memoir: A World Publishing Phenomenon

[MrsMaxDeWinter]

There will likely be several bashing threads on Harry's memoir before it is published, but I am interested in discussing with anyone who is interested in the very interesting marketing choices of the publishers and their approach.

English language editions of SPARE will be published on 10 January 2023 in EIGHT territories: the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Canada.

The book will also be published in translation in 15 additional languages:

SPANISH Plaza & Janés/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial
GERMAN Penguin Verlag/Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe GmbH, PORTUGUESE BRAZIL Objetiva/Grupo Companhia das Letras
PORTUGUESE PORTUGAL Objectiva/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, SIMPLIFIED CHINESE Penguin Random House China
DANISH Politikens Forlag
DUTCH Hollands Diep, an imprint of Overamstel
FINNISH Otava Publishing Company Ltd
FRENCH Éditions Fayard
GREEK Pedio Books
HUNGARIAN Corvina Kiadó
ITALIAN Mondadori,
POLISH Wydawnictwo Marginesy,
ROMANIAN Nemira Publishing House,
SWEDISH Albert Bonniers Förlag.

This is absolutely sensational as it means it will be simultaneously published in 23 territories on the same day.

There are not many books where simultaneous release occurs in different markets. From this, I would say that the book will more than earn its advance, just from the foreign sales alone.

They also chose a banger of a title as it puts focus on the troubling notion of the Spare in a system based on primogeniture, and one that imbues both intrinsic and extrinsic value based on a person's birth order.

Imagine growing up knowing that no matter how loved you may be, your constitutional role is ultimately to be the spare to the heir.

Can't wait to read it!

About the overall point of answering detailed/incisive questions, I'll be amazed if Harry ever puts himself in that position, since as a royal being questioned is unlikely to be part of his mindset
Even Oprah had to roll with saying little more than "Uh-huh", "Wow" and the rest in order to secure the interview, and sorry but I find the claim that people so insistent about their image knew nothing of the questions beforehand to be an insult to the intelligence

Luckily (or not) there are still enough people who'll hand onto their every self-absorbed squeak and gribbit to pay the bills for now, but what'll happen in future is anyone's guess

She’s my hero!

Rod Liddle in the Times:

archive.ph/oSzUA

@Georgeskitchen Instead of whinging about his awful life as a "spare" he should look towards his Auntie Anne.
She was the spare who would never be.monarch under the old rules. She works hard, doesn't complain, doesn't suffer fools gladly. I would love to have known her private opinions on the megxit saga and Oprah interview.
I'm willing to bet it wasn't pretty.

@Abracadabra12345 She’s my hero!

My hero too!
Also because Anne was technically in the "spare" position, but disregarded as female. Imagine the trauma that could have caused, if she were inclined to self-pity!

At 37 it's really time for Harry to come to grips with the unfairness of reality.
Life's by definition unfair. We need to compare ourselves with those less privileged than ourselves, and count our blessings, rather than gripe that we're not born heirs in first position to vast fortunes. The least he could do is complain privately.

H and M came to the US with a huge trust fund from Diana (I could have lived out the b rest of my life on that!), a multimillion dollar/year allowance from Charles, a huge platform that gave them access to access to Netflix, Spotify, PenguinRandomHouse, Oprah, any media they wanted. They had a lot of sympathy in the US where people didn't really understand what was going on.
H and M had so many advantages to start a successful life in the US and leave the past behind.

Alternatively, since Harry doesn't have any skills or bankable talents, if he wanted to leave his royal roles his dad would have gladly set him up with a business of his own and a fabulous mansion in a scenic area of England. He could have bred polo ponies or something, and though he knows nothing about the business he'd have been given all the staff he wanted from dad. He knows this.

Instead, they believed they were famous just for being such wonderful people and would make billions in three years. But the only thing they have to sell is their connection to the royals. And so they will continue to spill the dirt, because only the dirt brings in the dosh.

I really don't see how that will lead to a happy life.

Thanks for the Rod Little article link including....."He called his book Spare because of his subordinance to his brother in the royal rankings — but when used in my neck of the woods, in the north of England, it can also mean either angry or mentally deficient. I don’t suppose he knew that."

I thought the title was clever because of heir/spare and the mental health / anger meaning too. But I'm not sure it does him any favours - it suggests he's still cross at the unfairness of only being born 3rd in line to the throne instead of 2nd. I think the risk is that a rich and privileged man complaining (during a cost of living crisis) that he wasn't born even more rich and privileged will just look awful.

I wonder how much influence the ghost writer had over the title? If you compare it to the book he wrote with Agassi, entitled simply “Open”, it’s remarkably similar, even down to the photo

See here

I’m not sure I understand his ‘beef’ on this tbh. By his own admission on Oprah, being 1st and 2nd (as was) in line meant his father and brother were ‘trapped’. By Harry being the spare’ it has given him the freedom and luxury of being able to carve out his own life wherever he wants and he is doing just that. Is he saying that he would rather to be in PW position in the RF? or that he was treated differently because his brother was heir and that he is/was unhappy about it?

Open is another great title! The Agassi cover photo is also unbelievably good, I hadn't seen that before, wow.

Came to say I agree with this. I haven't seen any other celeb threads where there are such a die hard fanatics defending their idols.

I get what he means totally. I can't explain my personal circumstances for privacy reasons but surely we all understand the golden child scenario.
If one child is singled out for whatever reason, of course it has an effect on a sibling. There's enough threads on this sort of thing on MN over the years

FWIW I think he comes across well in interview, a PP mentioned him talking about his MH and life, he was easy to listen to and quite natural

I wasn't going to bother with the book but the furore around just the title on MN is making me change my mind!

Idols? Lol
Strange word to use. You can defend someone without them being an 'idol'

And I haven't seen 700 plus threads just attacking one woman and/or a couple. Apart from M&H that is

Ooh where's the furore about the title 👀
Hopefully the book won't cone across that way at all, but I think it is a risk of using that word as a title.

When I saw the book cover and title first I thought it was a spoof. Was astonished to find out it IS the real one 😂I'm embarrassed for Harry, the title alone is making it clear how much he is lacking in self awareness. He deserves all the ridicule to come.

This is someone who complained how camera flashes made him upset and how much he wanted a private life. But now he's suddenly ok to be in the centre of attention by revealing his private life in a book deal?

You certainly spend vast amount of time defending the pair.

Do I know you?!
That doesn't make them my 'idols'...far from it! FWIW I've barely been on these threads for weeks but if my presence is required, happy to oblige lol

I get what he means totally. I can't explain my personal circumstances for privacy reasons but surely we all understand the golden child scenario
If one child is singled out for whatever reason, of course it has an effect on a sibling. There's enough threads on this sort of thing on MN over the years

I wont go into mine either but am very aware of golden child syndrome and would bet my money that this probably applies to PH wife. Where Harry is concerned if in fact it is going to be a book all about how he was hard done by because his brother was favoured by Charles etc then I don’t think that’s going to go down well tbh. Much like when Samantha Markle complains about her sister, she always gets ripped into.

It will be interesting to see what narrative he goes for and if it is balanced or just PH taking the role of always the victim.

Yes it does not make sense does it. The things that people do for money. In this case I also think he lost common sense, even when thinking on his best interests. It is interesting to watch the spiralling. There is no defending to it. And I actually don't think he comes across well when speaking in public. He gets naturally compared to the wife, who is more eloquent and rounded and of course, an actress in all senses of the word.

If this is readable from the screenshot it’s hit the nail on the head!

go to the other thread for the share token.

Exactly

That was my first thought when I saw the title. He really seems very confused about what it is he actually wants.

Exactly. As I said in my last post, Harry was actually in a far better position than his brother. He wasn't, according to his own definition, "trapped". Not only could he have chosen to do whatever he wanted in life, his dad would have set him up in that position and made sure he never had to suffer failures. He sought Freedom, didn't he? He could have had it without slagging off his family.

The only thing Harry lacked (pre MM), really, was a wife who truly loved him, enough to share the limelight. Chelsy and Cressida both rejected him. I'm afraid his final choice didn't help him find the freedom he so craved.

So many assumptions. What makes you think Charles would have set him up? It seems the resentment around H and M is because they left, not just how they left. I do not see any scenario where leaving would have been acceptable. Considering how low down in the line of succession he is, and how irrelevant he is said to be, the manufactured outrage is bizarre. It seems to me there is unease in the handwringing: if one can leave, surely they can all leave. His departure has revealed cracks, and for that he can't be forgiven, no matter how he may have left, and what he may have done after he left.

I am glad Harry is writing his memoir precisely because there has been so much speculation about his life, and his relationships, including with his father.

Air and sunlight are always a good thing.

Still waiting for your apology for twisting of my words, but I suspect SPARE will be out before that happens!

@MrsMaxDeWinter
My words have been maliciously twisted, and still it continues.

I apologise if I misunderstood you, but I assure you there was nothing malicious about it. True, I did not go back to your post about memoirs to check what exactly you said. I only had in my memory your attempt to educate me that there's a difference between autobiographies and memoirs, and that the latter were perhaps a fairly unknown/minor phenomenon in the UK (at least literary ones). The impression remained that you didn't think memoirs were popular in the UK, which is wrong.

To everyone: whenever I post something longer, MN automatically strikes through a paragraph or two of my post. Can someone explain what it happening here?