Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, which became one of the biggest-selling books of 2023, earned the Duke of Sussex a Grammy nomination for his narration of the audiobook.
The memoir, published in January 2023, attracted huge international attention and recorded remarkable first-day sales.
According to Guinness World Records, Spare sold 1.43 million copies during its first day of publication across the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, making it the fastest-selling nonfiction book ever at the time.
The figure surpassed the previous first-day record held by former United States President Barack Obama for his book A Promised Land, which sold about 887,000 copies on its first day.
The strong sales came despite several details from the memoir having leaked before its official publication.
Spare was released on January 10, 2023, and became the subject of intense international attention because of Harry’s accounts of his childhood, his relationship with members of the British royal family and his life after stepping back from royal duties.
The memoir was published by Penguin Random House and was released in several languages around the world.
The book’s success later extended to awards recognition through its audiobook version.
Harry narrated the audiobook himself, making him eligible for the 2024 Grammy Awards in the Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording category.
His nomination placed him alongside other prominent figures in the category.
Although Harry received the Grammy nomination, he did not win the award. His recognition nevertheless marked another notable development surrounding the memoir, which had already attracted considerable attention because of its sales.
The audiobook gave listeners the opportunity to hear Harry tell his story in his own voice rather than through another narrator.
The Grammy recognition also demonstrated that the success of Spare extended beyond its printed editions.
By 2024, Spare had sold more than six million copies worldwide according to its publisher, while Publishers Weekly reported that it sold about 1.2 million copies through outlets tracked by NPD BookScan in 2023.
The memoir’s commercial performance made it one of the most prominent publishing stories of the period.
The book also generated significant discussion because of its revelations concerning Harry’s relationship with his family, including his brother, Prince William, and his father, King Charles III.
Harry had promoted the memoir extensively before its release through a series of television interviews and public appearances.
The attention surrounding the book helped generate strong interest even before it reached bookstores.
Despite the controversy surrounding some of its contents, the sales figures demonstrated the level of public interest in Harry’s personal account of his experiences as a member of the British royal family.
The Grammy nomination added another dimension to the book’s journey, taking it from a bestselling memoir to an audiobook recognised by one of the world’s major entertainment awards.
While the memoir did not win the Grammy, Harry’s nomination placed his narration among recordings considered by the Recording Academy for the 2024 awards.
