Booksellers reveal Irish readers ‘not really’ bothered with Prince Harry’s memoir

The royal’s hotly anticipated book released at midnight, with some British bookshops reporting that people queued outside to get their hands on Spare this morning.

“Let’s just say there is no one breaking down doors,” one Dublin bookseller admitted, saying there have been a few pre-orders of the book but demand is “not really” there for Irish readers.

Others confessed there is not much to report on the sales front so far, with today being like any other for many of Ireland’s bookshops.

"There really has not been much of a demand,” another seller from a popular Dublin bookshop confessed to sundayworld.com.

"We have put one aside for a customer, but the rest are the shelves.

"We have already had a complaint though before it was even released,” he said, admitting a gentleman was “not very happy” with Harry and the antics described in his memoir.

The demand seen in the UK has “definitely not” been replicated for many booksellers in Ireland so far, he said.

For Irish bookstore chain Dubray Books however, “there has been a steady stream of interest all morning,” said Marketing Manager Susan Walsh.

"Of course, it will never be the same level of demand as the UK, but Irish readers really seem to enjoy major celebrity memoirs, especially the behind-the-scenes and personal, human stories of celebrities and royal family members.

"Early January is a quiet time of year for releases, so to have a big celebrity memoir on shelves is very exciting,” she added.

"It’s a big boom.”

Susan told sundayworld.com that pre-orders and and online sales took a major jump at the weekend ahead of the official release – perhaps prompted by stories from Spare that made headlines in recent days.

Leaked excerpts from the Prince’s book have proven controversial in the run-up to the launch of the controversial account of his life as the “spare” heir to the throne.

The Duke of Sussex reveals in the book how he lost his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a pub, his teenage cocaine use, his bust-ups with older brother Prince William among other major revelations.

Spare is already the number 1 bestseller on Amazon in the UK, with UK retailers reporting the memoir has been one of the biggest pre-order books on the high-street.