After a lengthy leadup to its release – including numerous calls to pull the book entirely – Prince Harry’s hotly anticipated memoir “Spare” will be released worldwide on Tuesday. Some splashy early revelations were recently leaked to the press, like new wrinkles to his relationship with Prince William and details about his time served in Afghanistan, as a means to drum up public interest.
With his reputation more polarizing than ever, CivicScience wanted to gauge the public’s sentiment toward “Spare” and Prince Harry more generally. A vast majority of U.S. adults (84%) are not planning to read his memoir. Neither side of the political divide is especially enthusiastic about the book, but registered Democrats are more than twice as likely as registered Republicans (23% compared to 9%) to read his book.
So do leaked details from buzzy books help or harm the author and publisher’s cause? If our latest polling is any indication, then the early “Spare” reports may have turned off more prospective readers than not. Just over 1-in-10 U.S. adults claim to be ‘more interested’ following the leaks, and 46% are less inclined to read the book. Slightly more U.S. adults like or love Prince Harry (29%) as those who don’t like him (24%) – but a strong plurality (45%) don’t have a strong opinion either way.
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