'Spare' copies launch in Mansfield stores as Prince Harry's new memoir gets residents talking

Spare, the autobiography by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is now available in stores across the UK, including for £14 at WHSmith in Mansfield’s Four Seasons Shopping Centre.

One WHSmith staff member said the book had sold well in its first few hours of release on January 10.

They said: “You never know how these things will go, but given the rain and that it is a weekday, people have turned up for it.

“We must have sold more than 40 copies by noon. People were even buying a couple of copies each.”

The book features recollections of the Prince’s teenage years, drug taking, how the Prince coped with the loss of his mother and details on his relationship with senior Royals.

However, Marco Crescenzo, from Mansfield, branded the book “rubbish”.

He said: “I think it is just a way of making more money. That is all it is about.

“It is disgusting what he is doing to his mother. By bringing her up all the time. Why can’t he just lay her to rest?”

Fellow Mansfield resident George Draycott said: “They can’t see outside Royal Family life.

“They make out that they know a lot about people, but we know the Royalty.

“They’re dirty scumbags. I would tell them that to their faces.

“At the end of the day, we have to live and spend a lot of money on food.

“The Royal family does not do any of that.

“I’ve lost family in the war. They have babies with medals. How do they work that out?”

However, Gav Topley, from Warsop, said: “I haven’t had a chance to read it in full, but it seems conversations around this are being used as proxy arguments to serve certain agendas.

“He is someone in the limelight and therefore the Press has an interest in his story and it’s only fair to give him the opportunity to tell that story himself.

“What is most important from what I have seen is how he is trying to shine a light on the relationship between the institution and the Press.

“The Press is supposed to hold the establishment to account and ensure they are working on our behalf.

“We have a government that has been acting with impunity and commenting when caught out lying, in a way that suggests no remorse.

“And now, in a time when we are facing a general strike, have a crisis in the NHS and all types of problems not being tackled by the government, we need a Press holding them to account.

“In that respect, comments made by Prince Harry are timely and important.”