Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’ Update Could Be an Olive Branch to King Charles

When Prince Harry‘s memoir, Spare, hit shelves, put him in the history books—literally. The book became the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time, according to Guinness World Records. And on October 22 (October 24 if you’re in the U.K.), Spare is getting rereleased in paperback and in what could be seen as a peace offering to the royal family, it won’t contain any new material or additional chapters, as is often the case with paperback editions.

Royal expert and historian Dr. Tessa Dunlop explained the situation to The Mirror, saying, “Aged 38, a man in early middle age entered the Guinness Book of Records: Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare, became the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time. No mean feat, but not one that the Duke of Sussex looks likely to repeat with the release of the paperback edition in October this year. Spare‘s jacket image will remain unchanged, ditto the written contents.”

Dunlop went on to say that a rerelease gave Harry a chance to double down on all of the rumors that have been swirling around the royals, but the fact that he’s not revealing more could be seen as maturing and his desire to move past the drama.

“Widely criticized for indiscretions about his family, from brother William’s fiery temper (who can forget the dog bowl antics) and ‘alarming baldness,’ to broadsides against his stepmother, Camilla, the ‘Other Woman,’ Spare was deemed by many to have gone too far,” she explained. “But as tell-all books go, Harry could have divulged much more, and traditionally paperbacks are the ideal space to reboot the narrative and double down on the money.”

She added that timing may have been an issue, noting that with King Charles and Kate Middleton’s dual cancer diagnoses, releasing more scathing information bout the royal family would have been in poor taste.

“The duke is playing a longer game. Too much whinging does his brand no favors, and with cancer impacting both his father and sister-in-law Kate, now is not the time to have another pop,” she added.

And while many could see the unchanged contents of Spare as a move forward for the family, Dunlop says it may be too little too late. She mentioned that Harry could have added a note to readers addressing regret about the initial release or adding well-wishes for his father and sister-in-law, but he didn’t.

“New material can be conciliatory, Harry might have taken the lead and opened with a different prologue, fore-fronting his regret about how things turned out, and reiterating his good wishes for Kate and the king,” Dunlop said. “The uncomfortable stalemate persists. My hunch is that deep down Harry regrets some of what he has written, but like so many men, he is way too proud to admit it.”