Bookstores empty on morning of Prince Harry memoir release

The turnout at a Sydney bookstore for the release of Prince Harry’s memoir reveals what Aussies really think of the royal.

One of Sydney’s most popular bookstores was near deserted on Wednesday morning as Prince Harry’s tell-all autobiography hit the shelves across Australia.

Dymocks Sydney opened its doors earlier than usual at 8.30am on Wednesday, but the anticipated crowds were nowhere to be seen as people seemingly shunned the Duke of Sussex’s new release, Spare.

Dymocks was offering free hot drinks to anyone who purchased Spare between 8.30 and 9am, but despite the excitement brought by Australian and British media broadcasting from the shop, little foot traffic was seen.

The bookstore still expected to sell out its 2000 copies of the royal rebel’s autobiography over the day, Dymocks Books Sydney general manager Jon Page told Nine’s Today show.

“We are hoping to sell out today, we have more on order if that does happen. The demand before today was huge,” Mr Page said.

“Pre-orders have doubled since Friday, so while there’s not a lot of people here at 8.30 in the morning, we are expecting a surge throughout the day.”

Queues never came outside Dymocks Sydney on the morning of the release of Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Dymocks Sydney general manager Jon Page with the biography, which is on sale as a hardback for $45 following its release. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The first 25 Dymocks customers to purchase the book were set to go into the draw for a $250 digital Dymocks gift card, the bookstore said.

Prince Harry’s memoir reached No.1 spot on the UK Amazon bestseller charts ahead of its UK release on Tuesday.

The publisher, Transworld Penguin Random House, said Spare was the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time.

“We always knew this book would fly, but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations,” Transworld managing director Larry Finlay said.

“As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).”

Lots of copies, not many takers for Prince Harry’s memoir. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The lure of free hot drinks and a raffle draw was not enough to bring big crowds for the Duke of Sussex’s book release. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Sales had topped 400,000 copies in the UK across the hardback, e-book and audio formats after the first day.

The memoir has attracted worldwide attention after the outspoken Prince Harry levelled accusations against fellow royals and detailed his childhood trauma and ensuing struggles following the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

The book, which controversially details Prince Harry’s Taliban ‘kill count’ during his military service, has become the fastest selling nonfiction book in UK history. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The Duke of Sussex also attracted criticism for extensively detailing his military exploits, including his “kill count” of 25 Taliban fighters, which experts have slammed as disrespectful and dangerous.

British Major General Chip Chapman told Times Radio that Harry’s comments were “naively stupid” and could place a huge target on his back.

“Harry is not serving but those things are still sensitive,” he said.

“And for him, who wants privacy and security, he’s just opened himself up to every jihadist and nutcase out there.”