In hindsight, it seems impossible to believe fewer than five years have passed since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were joined in holy matrimony, a sudden sparkle reinstalled in the royal family’s drooping crown. So much has happened since! So much ink has been spilled! Like any great fairy tale, there’s been betrayal, bombast, even banishment (or, uh, “stepping back” from royal duties)! And yet, even years into the drama, the world remains transfixed on the two lovers’ tale, largely because that tale appears unfinished—no matter how many interviews, essays, and Netflix documentaries have dropped. Might Spare, Prince Harry’s new memoir, finally fill in the missing chapters for us? Might the story have finally reached its apex?
Already, Spare—so named after the infamous “heir and the spare” truism regarding Prince William and Prince Harry in the line of succession—is climbing bestseller lists and generating hair-raising headlines. Only time will tell if the actual book is worth all this hubbub, but one thing is for certain: Spare will be one of the most talked-about books of the year, about one of the most-discussed relationships in recent history. The royal family has never seen a marriage like that between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, nor since Princess Diana’s infamous Panorama interview has it faced a reckoning quite this public.
Random House, Spare’s publisher, will have made certain plenty of copies are ready and waiting to sail into hungry readers’ homes, but it would nevertheless be a smart choice to pre-order the memoir if you want to be among the earliest in-the-know. Many major booksellers, including Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local indie, are taking pre-orders now. Alternatively, you can always grab an audiobook copy; you can even listen to Spare without spending a penny, if you start a free trial on Audible. The book will officially release on Jan. 10, and with 416 pages to get through, you’d better start resting those eyes (or ears) for a speed-read.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.
