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!

One's husband's aunts don't hold any power really. They can't silence you, get tou sacked, they probably don't know the people you worked with, or your friends. They can't take money out of yr account or give you a pay cut or increase your hours.... but even so take my hat off the the robust self esteem that heard "have some money to send her back" and managed not to react. In awe. That is class.

It seems to me that much of the dislike of the duchess is because she has not bowed to those born of entitlement; she has challenged and not been servile and silent

Erm being servile is part of the deal. And MM has always been perfectly happy with that aspect in terms of expecting to be bowed & scraped at herself as a ‘duchess’ - and being given a profile to air her ‘voice’ - yet she is somehow unable to summon the same respect she expects from her ‘lessers’ to those above her in the pecking order.

Either she believes in the system - or not

The Malahaha way is the best way whatever your colour, the way that will make a person and those around them feel most comfortable. MM seems the opposite of that. Obviously none of us have met her so she might be very different frmo the impression given when we hear her talk.

I Hope she and her husband can be happy and let the children see their grandfathers whilst there is still time as that is a moral good, even if the parents do not want to do that. It is not as if the garnfathers will be holding the children over open fires so I don't see why not for the sake of two older men they cannot allow some more contact. Both men - King Charles III and Mr Markle have said they would love to see the children.

Its the opposite of what that other poster said in their post regarding self esteem.

Being happy and having a healthy self esteem meant that you were able to work with people and teach them, not lash out at them.

I could not agree more.

Wow! And there you have it. Of course MM is going to be the source of resentment. It clearly frustrates and threatens some of you to see in her what you have not permitted or achieved in yourself. She does not equate service to servitude or challenge to being ‘shouty’; she does not bow to those born of entitlement; she will not squash her own ambitions to placate her enemies (or indeed her in-laws), and so forth. If the examples given and heralded by some of you is what previously constituted feminism in action, one can only be thankful that we’ve moved towards a new paradigm.
I would find these narratives amusing if they weren’t so utterly tragic.

Clearly diplomacy is an alien concept to some posters, MM failed the foreign officer entrance exam so clearly an alien concept to her too.

She only has this position because she married a prince. How very feminist of her.
I just don't get your adoration of Meghan. What has she said that has improved the lives of other women?

@derxa shes a ‘ripple of hope’ for people across the world don’t you know that people were dancing in the streets in South Africa like they did when Mandela was released !

she does not bow to those born of entitlement

Managed to curtsey to a few of them though.

Did she? I always imagined she's do what H did.

Oh well.

What MM fails to do is take into account any other view, to understand any alternative viewpoint. Malahaha has been very eloquent on the issues. MM basically entered an old family 'firm' without the grace to watch and listen - not saying there aren't things which could have been done better/differently, but we've all worked with the 'new broom' who thinks they know best, spends a few months slashing and burning, then

Posted too soon
Then buggers off to pastures new leaving chaos in their wake.

Malahaha's posts are thoughtful, graceful and worth paying attention to.

It’s not adoration but more an objection to the archaic and asinine attitudes and practices celebrated on this thread. It would be less of a problem if they weren’t being endorsed as an example of ‘right living’.

I was really impressed by her over this. Fergie taught her to curtsy and she really learnt how to do it well. She curtsied lower than all of the others in the RF. If you look at how elegantly both she and Kate curtsied to the Queens coffin in such high, thin heels, Meghan went quite a bit lower. Respect.

So why on earth did she marry into the British Royal Family ? Yes , she loved Harry but why not say yes I want to marry you but only if we have a quiet wedding and move away , no titles or anything , just normal lives .

She doesn't want a 'normal' life. She wants an alternative royal court for some weird reason.

I have always thought that the biggest problem is that MM is an American, not that she is mixed race. You can see examples of how American's are viewed and treated on this thread. Apparently I have an inferior education because I have a difference of opinion (and I use F instead of C). Oh the tragedy of someone thinking, "gasp", differently. It all seems very immature and mean girl.

It is rather humorous to watch the same people be in a tizzy over MM day after day. And there they are living their best lives and raking in the money.

It seems to me that MM arrived in the RF all ready to change anything she didn't like, and that's just not a good way of doing things. And any pushback she got, she put it down to sexism and racism, and did so before a TV audience of many millions. She refused to adapt to protocol.

Meghan experienced racism and misogynist from almost the get go from the British media and plenty of it has been, and continues to be, spewed all over some sections of social media. Indeed some social media posters have invented even more stuff of which to accuse her. How long exactly, was she to remain silent about that before she could speak up? In your opinion?

Exactly. It is about being secure in yourself and in your relationship to understand that people are a product of their time and environment, and might or might not be open to revisiting their assumptions.

I lived in South Africa for over a decade in the early 2000s, and was appalled by the racism, sexism, homophobia etc. For the first 5-7 years I did not give an opinion unless asked. I asked a lot of questions, I tried to understand why people held the opinion they did, and in the process I think (hope) was a catalyst for some people to re-examine their beliefs.

When I did begin to disagree it was very gently - 'you have a point, but then I have seen XYZ (disproves/contradicts their assertion). Because that was a far more effective way of challenging someone's beliefs constructively than being combative. And goodness knows, some peoples beliefs made my jaw drop open. But by then I understood better how they had been educated and socialised into those beliefs (by years of listening, plus a history degree with the equivalent of the Open University). And if I had gone in squaring up to their (in my view) unacceptable prejudices they would have hardened their attitudes.

Living in another country/culture is hard. Rewarding, but hard. You have to be willing to adapt and compromise.

How long should MM have been expected to 'remain silent'? The flip side is that they met and married very quickly. You could say instead she should have spent longer getting to know the context, so they could have made an informed decision about their future - for example, a low key wedding and not trying to become working royals, given that she found the culture so unbearable.

I have read that there were people who encouraged them to slow down and take their time - of course, I have no inside information. But for two people from such different cultures to meet and marry so quickly - it was highly likely that there would be a significant culture clash

Wise words

Is this still rumbling on?

Spare

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