Prince Harry's memoir generating buzz in Waterloo region

Prince Harry’s highly-anticipated memoir “Spare” hits shelves Tuesday morning and it’s already generating a lot of buzz thanks to bombshell interviews Harry has done to promote the book.

As of Monday morning, there are already 173 holds on “Spare” at the Kitchener Public Library. At Waterloo Public Library, 227 people are in line for the book and there are 82 holds on the Cambridge Idea Exchange’s copies.

The co-owner of Words Worth Books in Uptown Waterloo says two-thirds of the 20 copies they ordered are already spoken for.

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David Worsley says while he isn’t surprised by the demand, he thinks the hype around the memoir will be short-lived.

“This is the sort of thing – and I don’t mean to demean it – but it’s the sort of thing that in six months we won’t be able to give it away,” Worsley said. “It will burn out fast and that’ll be that. So we’ll order more, but the trick will be to not get stuck with a bunch.”

BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS

Harry spoke to Britain’s ITV and CBS's “60 Minutes” to promote his book, “Spare,” which has generated incendiary headlines with its details of private emotional turmoil and bitter family resentments.

In interviews broadcast Sunday, Harry accused members of the Royal Family of getting "into bed with the devil” to gain favourable tabloid coverage, claimed his stepmother Camilla, the Queen Consort, had leaked private conversations to the media and said his family was “complicit” in his wife Meghan's “pain and suffering.”

“Spare” explores Harry’s grief at the death of his mother in 1997, and his long-simmering resentment at the role of royal “spare,” overshadowed by the “heir” — older brother Prince William. He recounts arguments and a physical altercation with William, reveals how he lost his virginity (in a field) and describes using cocaine and cannabis.

He also says he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan — a claim criticized by both the Taliban and British military veterans.

Britain's King Charles III, from bottom left, Camilla, the Queen Consort, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed into the hearse following the state funeral service in Westminster Abbey in central London Monday Sept. 19, 2022. Prince Harry has defended his memoir that lays bare rifts inside Britain's royal family. He says in TV interviews broadcast Sunday that he wanted to "own my story" after 38 years of "spin and distortion" by others. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, Pool, File)

WHAT DO ROYAL EXPERTS THINK?

“It’s a bit of a sad thing to see somebody who’s obviously hurting and unhappy in a lot of ways sort of airing that laundry and anxieties in public,” said University of Waterloo British history professor Dan Gorman.

Gorman says he’s cynical about the memoir.

“Nobody forced him to write this book, nobody forced him to make a Netflix documentary,” he said. “All of those things make them money and help them to establish a brand as celebrities, which seems is what they're looking to do.”

Gorman’s advice to the royal family, who haven’t commented, is to remain quiet and deal with the matter privately.

A local monarchist says Harry’s sharing too much too soon.

“I think it’s unfortunate it’s coming out at this time with the Queen’s passing and King Charles trying to start his reign and the modernizations he's trying to make,” Vera Von Bogen-Cormier said.

“There’s certain things that shouldn’t have been made public.”

With files from The Associated Press