Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’ breaks Guinness World Record for fastest-selling non-fiction book

Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ has become the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time, Guinness World Records confirmed on Friday, after the controversial book sold 1.43 million copies on its first day.

The publisher of Prince Harry’s memoir said the autobiography sold a “record” 1.4 million copies in just 24 hours smashing Penguin Random House’s sales record.

The sales outstrip Penguin Random House’s previous first-day non-fiction record, for US President Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” in 2020 and Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” in 2018.

Obama’s 2020 memoir ‘A Promised Land’, had sold 8,87,000 copies on the debut day, Forbes quoted Guinness as saying. Demand from booksellers was about 20% higher than for Obama’s presidential memoirs.

Spare is in its second printing after selling the first two million. The high sales came despite excerpts of the book were leaked after Spanish-language copies were mistakenly put up for sale in Spain ahead of the release day.