The early release of Prince Harry’s memoir required us to adapt quickly

The Independent has published the book’s biggest revelations, and the longer-lasting effects on the royal family are next, writes Charlotte Cripps

Harry describes a physical altercation with his brother, William, in ‘Spare’ (PA)

Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare shows that even with the most top-secret press campaigns in place, things go wrong. While we had planned for its release on Tuesday our coverage changed drastically when the book accidentally went on sale in Spain days ahead of the release date. Along with some explosive claims about Prince William.

It’s hard to fathom how such a high-profile book like this could get leaked. The publisher Penguin Random House had gone to extreme lengths to keep it under wraps as part of a reported $20m advance book deal – there weren’t any advance copies. The stringent security surrounding its release was on a par with the Harry Potter book series – copies were said to be placed under guard in warehouses.

Suddenly we weren’t waiting for a book. Like all the media, we were flooded with stories: Harry described a physical altercation with his brother, William; described losing his virginity in a field behind a pub; and urged his father not to remarry.

Now we have published the book’s biggest revelations, and the longer-lasting effects on the royal family are next. It is, of course, unusual for us to review a book when we know all of its secrets. Harry’s numerous televised interviews to promote Spare, first with Tom Bradby on ITV1, followed by a sit-down chat with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes on CBS, then another on Good Morning America with Michael Strahan, before he joined Stephen Colbert on his late-night show means Harry’s side of the story is firmly imprinted on our minds.

While Harry has been keeping the royal drama going at full throttle – some might be getting sick of it. But there can be no denying the drama of the book’s release.

Yours,

Charlotte Cripps

Senior culture writer