Prince Harry: Bestselling author estimates the royal made over $20 million with his book Spare

As many know, Prince Harry published his memoir, Spare in January 2023, it quickly became the UK’s fastest-selling non-fiction book. In his bombshell book, Prince Harry revealed what his relationship with Prince William was like and claimed that the now-Prince of Wales had pushed him into a dog bowl during a fight over his wife, Meghan Markle.

The Duke of Sussex, who reportedly used a ghostwriter for his memoir, has yet to release his book in paperback form. This means that all current sales are from the hardback edition. As reported by Daily Mail, Richard Osman, TV host and fellow writer, has estimated how much Prince Harry has earned from his memoir, Spare.

Prince Harry potentially made over $20 million from Spare

Richard Osman, author of the popular mystery series, The Thursday Murder Club, has estimated how much Prince Harry earned through his book. Osman explained on his podcast, The Rest Is Entertainment that he knows how authors are paid in the publishing industry.

He explained that the author would get a $20 million (£16 million) advance, which means that the author would not get paid until the publishing company makes back its $20 million.

I know what you get paid per book. Got a $ 20 million advance. Thing with an advance is, you get paid in advance, $ 20 million in that case, you do not make a penny until your publisher makes back their $ 20 million.

As reported by Daily Mail, Richard Osman has estimated that with hardback copies alone, Prince Harry has earned between $26 million and $27 million.

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.

Osman adds that he believes Prince Harry will make even more money once Spare is published in paperback form, he said on his podcast that ‘it's just money rolling into the Sussexes’.

Prince Harry earned more royalties in the US

Richard Osman also explains that the royalties Prince Harry receives have nothing to do with the pricing of the book. Indeed, some suggest that the Duke of Sussex’s book wasn’t a success as it was heavily discounted in some places.

Harry is not making less money if it's half-price. He makes exactly the same if you charge $28 and if you charge $14.

As per Daily Mail, Osman added that Prince Harry earned a lot more from his book sales in the US as ‘the royalties are absolutely insane’ due to the fact that books are a lot more expensive in the US.

Also, he sells a lot in America. In America the royalties are absolutely insane because they pay a lot of money for books in America.

Finally, Osman talks briefly about Meghan Markle’s acting career, explaining that her show, Suits has seen a surge in popularity on Netflix. According to Daily Mail, Suits has been watched for a total of 57.7 billion minutes on Netflix.

Now I'm sure she's not making a huge amount from Suits. But as a power couple, forget Netflix and Spotify, that's not bad.

Read more:

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⋙ Prince Harry and Prince William both invited to Hugh Grosvenor’s wedding

Sources used:

Daily Mail: ‘EXCLUSIVE Prince Harry is set for multi-million pound windfall from memoir Spare after raking in up to £22million from sales of the hardback, bestselling author Richard Osman claims’

The Rest Is Entertainment podcast