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Prince Harry has failed to win over Brits with his highly anticipated bombshell memoir due for release on January 10, recent polling has revealed.
A YouGov survey found 81 percent of British adults were "not very" or "not at all" interested in King Charles' youngest son's life story, which comes hot on the heels of his six-part Netflix docuseries in which a number of accusations were made against the royal family—most prominently Charles and Prince William.
Of the 2,816 British adults surveyed, just 15 percent said they were "somewhat" or "very" interested in Harry's forthcoming memoir, with 4 percent responding that they did not know.
This poor public reaction to what is perhaps the prince's most major solo media project since leaving the royal family and moving to the U.S. in 2020, will come as a blow, but follows a recent decline in his overall popularity in his home country.
After the release of the Sussexes Netflix docuseries, both Harry and Meghan Markle saw a drop in public support. Figures before the release saw Harry's popularity stand at -13, this dropped to -26 in the days afterwards. Meghan too saw her popularity decrease, from -32 to -39.
Despite this, Harry has sought to promote the memoir—which he has titled Spare in reference to his lesser position in the line of succession to older brother William and the British expression of "heir and a spare"—in his home country.
It was revealed on Monday that the prince has recorded a 40-minute sit-down interview with the ITV network's news anchor Tom Bradby, which will be broadcast to the nation on Sunday evening (January 8) under the title Harry: The Interview.
This will mark the royal's first major U.K. interview since leaving the royal family.
The show will be broadcast alongside a stateside interview given to CBS' Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, both of which have released promotional clips in which the royal has made a number of incendiary comments about the royal family.
In the ITV promo, Harry reiterates claims made in the Netflix series about "leaking and the planting" of stories from royal sources, as well as saying "they feel as though it's better to keep us somehow as the villains," and "they've shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile." Though the "they" in these clips is not identified, viewers are led to assume that the prince is referring to members of the royal family.
Equally polarizing are Harry's comments made in a pre-released excerpt from his interview with Cooper, in which he says that the royal family's motto is "never complain, never explain," but adds that it "is just a motto" and agrees that on the contrary there is "endless" complaining and explaining.
Details of the memoir's content has been closely guarded by publishers Penguin Random House who signed a multi-million-dollar contract with Harry in 2021 and who also signed a similar deal with the Obamas following their White House exit in 2017.
Harry's untitled memoir project was announced in July 2021, as the royal family were still dealing with the aftereffects of his March interview with Oprah Winfrey in which the most damning allegation made was of racist comments made by an unnamed family member about the skin color of the prince and Meghan's future children.
In a press release announcing the project, Harry said: "I'm writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become. I've worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story—the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned—I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.
"I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I've learned over the course of my life so far and excited for people to read a firsthand account of my life that's accurate and wholly truthful."
Newsweek approached representatives of Penguin Random House for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more