Prince Harry's upcoming memoir has yet to hit bookshop shelves, however, both Waterstones and WH Smith have announced they will be slashing the price. Entitled Spare in an apparent reference to his place in the royal line of succession, the book is currently available to pre-order from both high-street retailers for just £14 instead of it's RRP of £28.
Set to be published on January 14th, Spare will be available from Waterstones and WHSmith and is also being sold on Amazon for full price.
While the pre-sale savings might please some readers amid the cost of living crisis, one indie bookshop has taken issue with the huge discount, which they say they simply can't compete with.
Fox Lane Books in North Yorkshire say they were going to add the pre-sale for the memoir to their website, but fear they'd make 'zero profit' as bigger retailers are selling it cheaper.
Taking to Twitter, the indie bookseller wrote: "Was going to add Prince Harry ’s memoir to the pre-order page but now notice that a certain non-indie bookstore is taking half-price pre-orders. Indies cannot compete with that so I won’t be bothering unless anyone really wants me to?"
Fox Lane Books added that they'd had 'loads' of enquiries from customers keen to preorder their copy but just don't think they'd have any chance of competing against the bookseller giants.
Spare has been described by publishers Random House as a 'landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief'.
The description reads as follows: "It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror.
"As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last."
The 416-page tell-all memoir, which will be published in translation in 15 additional languages, can also be purchased as a £20 audiobook, read by Prince Harry himself.
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