Piers Morgan is still being embarrassed by Prince Harry's book in a key way

Broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan’s extreme dislike of Prince Harry and Meghan is not news to many people, but what is, is the fact that the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare is clearly having a much better success rate than that of Morgan’s book, Wake Up.

If you’re not familiar with the Uncensored host’s 2020 release (and we wouldn’t blame you if you are), then the blurb for the Sunday Times bestseller talks about “attention-seeking celebrities” who tried to make the culture war “about their struggle”, and the “virtue-signalling woke brigade” and their “furious assault on free speech”.

It continues: “Wake Up is Piers’s rallying cry for a united future in which we reconsider what really matters in life. It is a plea for the return of true liberalism, where freedom of speech is king.

“Most of all, it is a powerful account of how the world finally started to wake up, and why it mustn’t go back to sleep again.”

Ironically, the reactionary right-wing talking points are enough to put us to sleep.

And it seems some readers had similar opinions, as only six customer reviews of the hardback edition are listed on Waterstones’ website – two of which are particularly negative.

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One gives it a single star rating and brands it “a load of rubbish”, while another said Morgan’s analysis is “weak and hypercritical throughout”.

In another insult to Morgan – and perhaps a reflection of the quality of its content – Amazon currently has the paperback edition on sale for just £2.84.

Ouch.

Oh, and then there’s the small matter of a New York Times report from December 2021 claiming Wake Up had only managed to sell around 5,650 print copies.

All of this is worth mentioning, of course, as Morgan takes aim at Prince Harry’s explosive ghostwritten memoir Spare, which had its UK release on Tuesday and has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever.

Morgan’s previously described Spareas a “poisonous book” and a “truly staggering portrayal” containing “deeply intrusive revelations about the royal family”. In one dramatic scene from his Uncensored show, Morgan decided to throw a copy of the book in a bin brought on set by a member of his production crew.

Yet Spare’s publishers Transworld, an imprint of Penguin Random House, recorded figures of more than 400,000 copies across hardback, ebook and audiobook formats on its first day of publication – according to a report by The Independent.

The figure is quite a lot more than Morgan’s reported 5,650 sales. Sorry, Piers.

And it seems Twitter users haven’t hesitated in pointing out the stark contrast in book sales, either.

One wrote: “So Piers Morgan, the ego, sold 5,600 copies of his best-selling book, whilst Prince Harry has sold 1,400,000 in two days. No wonder Piers has got the hump with the ginger whinger!”

Another commented: “Typical mainstream gaslighting in the UK is the likes of Piers Morgan telling Prince Harry that everybody hates him when his book couldn’t even push 300k copies, whilst Harry outsold that figure within 24 hours.”

“What did Piers Morgan do with the proceeds of his book? Oh wait it barely sold any copies,” a third posted, referencing the fact Prince Harry has pledged to “support British charities with donations from his proceeds”.

Truly remarkable scenes.

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