After Prince Harry, his memoir ‘Spare’ feels ‘left out’ - Tossed into bins by vacationers across Europe

Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," faces an odd adventure as 100+ copies get abandoned by vacationers across European resorts.

This summer, Prince Harry's memoir, titled "Spare," seems to be having an unexpected adventure of its own as more than 100 copies have been abandoned by vacationers across European resorts. On The Beach, an online tour operator revealed that they have been inundated with discarded copies of the Duke of Sussex's book from resorts in popular holiday destinations like Spain, Turkey, and Greece.

A supporter of Britain's Prince Harry gives a thumbs up outside the Rolls Building of the High Court in London, Britain June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville (REUTERS)

Toss it in the bin - Prince Harry's autobiography "Spare," feeling 'left out'

Zoe Harris, Chief Customer Officer at On The Beach, expressed her astonishment, saying, "We've never witnessed anything quite like it." Reports suggest that British holidaymakers have been spotted leaving the Duke's autobiography by the poolside, stashing it in hotel receptions and rooms, and even tossing it into beachside bins en masse.

The surplus of returned books has become such a predicament that On The Beach is now considering giving them away through their social media channels, as libraries and local bookstores have refused to accept the abundance of copies. Harris pleaded with the resorts to stop sending the books back to London, revealing that they just keep piling up.

"Lost property offices in our most popular resorts are brimming with copies of Spare, and we had a couple of Prince Harry’s books sent to us from a hotel that some of our customers had holidayed to," Harris explained. "We thought it was quite funny at first. But over the past few months, several other hotels have been sending the books back. Now we have bookcases full of them."

It's an unexpected twist for Prince Harry's headline-grabbing memoir, which created a storm in the publishing world upon its release in January. The 416-page tell-all book is filled with explosive allegations about the Royal family and insights into their private lives.

Despite the unexpected returns, it's worth noting that "Spare" made history as the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever published, with more than 1.4 million copies flying off the shelves in the US, Canada, and the UK combined on its first day of release. Larry Finlay, the managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, which published the memoir, stated, “We always knew this book would fly, but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations. As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry [Potter].”