Prince Harry published his memoir Spare three years ago now, sending shockwaves around the world with the explosive claims inside. While the book was likely not best appreciated by the Royal Family, who found themselves the subject of much criticism, it was no doubt appreciated by Harry and his publisher.
The Duke of Sussex is understood to have made quite a hefty paycheck from the memoir, with his earnings believed to be around £22million ($27 27million). This would have been a big success for Harry and his publisher, Penguin Random House, especially as the hardback was quick to become the UK’s fastest-selling non-fiction book ever.
While Harry has never confirmed how much the book made him, the Daily Mail reported that the Duke is believed to have received a £16million ($20million) advance as part of a £32million ($40million) four-book deal in June 2021.
The rest of Harry’s earnings were then estimated by author Richard Osman, who used his own knowledge of the industry to estimate how much he believes the Duke made from his memoir.
Speaking on his podcast, The Rest Is Entertainment, which came out before the paperback version of Spare was released, Osman said: “The book that Harry wrote, it’s impossible to overestimate how much money that has made.
“I mean, it’s been one of the most successful books. The fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time.
“I’ve done some back-of-the-envelope calculations because I like to. I know what you get paid per book. Got a $20million advance. Thing with an advance is, you get paid in advance, $20million in that case, you do not make a penny until your publisher makes back their $20million.”
He continued: “And once they’ve made back their $20million, and there’s all sorts of sliding scales about how that works, what they get, what you get, once you’ve made the $20million, then you get your royalties.
“I think – and his book has not come out in paperback yet. So this book is purely hardback. I reckon he’s made $26, $27million. So he’s earned out an advance of $20million on the hardback of his first book alone.
“Forget rights to other things and audiobooks and what have you. He has earned that out already. When the paperback comes out, it’s just money rolling into the Sussexes.”
The paperback version of Spare – which had the same content as the hardback – was released in October 2024.
It is not known if Harry will ever release another memoir, with the first one believed to have impacted some of his royal relationships, including the one with his brother Prince William. Despite this, it is believed Harry has no regrets about publishing his memoir.
