12th January, 2023
First day sales for Prince Harry’s “Spare” topped a record 1.4 million copies, the publisher
Penguin Random House announced Wednesday.
Harry’s tell-all memoir, a non-fiction, beats Barack and Michelle Obama, whose “Becoming” needed a week to reach 1.4 million when it was released in 2018.
The sales figures for “Spare” include hardcover, audiobook and e-book editions sold in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
″‘Spare’ is the story of someone we may have thought we already knew, but now we can truly come to understand Prince Harry through his own words,” Gina Centrello, President and Publisher of the Random House Group, said in a statement.
“Looking at these extraordinary first day sales, readers clearly agree, ‘Spare’ is a book that demands to be read, and it is a book we are proud to publish.”
One of the most highly anticipated memoirs in recent times, “Spare” is Harry’s highly personal and intimate account of his life in the royal family and his relationship with the American actor Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
Michelle Obama’s memoir has since sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, its sales holding up over time in part because of highly favourable reviews. The verdict is mixed so far for “Spare.”