Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
The timing of the release of the paperback version of Prince Harry’s best-selling memoir has raised eyebrows.
An expert noted the new edition of Spare will hit the shelves at the same time the Duke of Sussex’s father King Charles goes on tour, the first since the monarch disclosed his cancer diagnosis.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are going on a tour of Australia and Samoa to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
But royal commentators fear the release of Harry’s book, which broke the Guinness World Record for being the fastest-selling work of fiction, will distract from the royal tour.
In an episode of The Royal Record podcast, GB News’s Royal Correspondent, Cameron Walker, and the Digital Royal Editor, Svar Nanan-Sen, shared their views on Harry’s blunder.
Mr Walker said: “Well, we’re going to get a paperback version, you lucky devils out there, being released on October 22.
“Now, a red flag for me – when I saw the release date of this, slap bang in the middle of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, we know King Charles is going to be there.
“Is this whole thing going to distract from CHOGM or King Charles’s work there?”
But Harry has gone against adding any new material in the paperback edition as is custom for new releases, a move which could work in his favour, said Mr Nanan-Sen.
He explained: “It’s interesting. It does look like an olive branch by the fact that there will be no more new information coming out of Spare. But again, the release date smack bang in the middle of Charles’s tour of Australia and Samoa.
“We did see Sarah Ferguson actually move a scheduled engagement in Australia out of respect for the King and to not distract from his upcoming tour in Australia.
“So I suppose with no new information, it shouldn’t get as much pickup or take away from the headlines as it could have done if he had included an extra bombshell or two.”