The Duke of Sussex will go head-to-head with Britney Spears at the British Book Awards after his controversial memoir Spare was nominated for a book of the year prize.
The 39-year-old royal’s autobiography — in which he accused his brother William of pushing him into a dog bowl during a row over the Duchess of Sussex — was the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998, despite extracts being leaked online.
The ghostwritten book has been given a nod at the “Nibbies” in the non-fiction: narrative category — which pits him against Spears.
The singer’s memoir, The Woman In Me, detailed her controversial 13-year conservatorship along with her past romantic relationships including with singer Justin Timberlake.
Also among those nominated are books by Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Steven Bartlett and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart.
Harry used his tell-all book to make various claims about his family including that William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, that the King was jealous of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and that Charles refused to allow Meghan to join the Duke in Scotland as the late Queen was dying.
The Duke’s book is also nominated in the narration audiobook non-fiction category, alongside the likes of Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart and Steve Coogan’s character Alan Partridge. The awards ceremony will be held at Grosvenor House in central London on May 13.
It comes as a judge in the US has told officials to hand over Harry’s immigration papers before deciding whether to make them public.
The Heritage Foundation wants the material to be released to discover if the royal admitted to using illegal drugs before he was granted entry to live in the US. In Spare, he detailed using marijuana, cocaine and magic mushrooms. Drug use usually bars entry to the United States.
Judge Carl Nichols told the Department of Homeland Security that its arguments so far to keep them withheld were “insufficiently detailed” for him to make a decision.
The justice asked the immigration agency to explain the “particular harm” that would arise from the disclosure of the Duke of Sussex’s visa application.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales was today visiting the Oval cricket ground to celebrate an Earthshot Prize winner’s new contract supplying sustainable packaging for use in sporting venues.
William, who founded the prize to recognise and scale up projects to repair the planet, was joining Pierre Paslier, co-founder and co-CEO of Notpla, to hear about his company’s multi- million pound deal.
Notpla’s seaweed-based products will be supplied to Levy, a leading sports and entertainment caterer, for use in more than 50 venues from the Oval to Wimbledon’s All England Lawn Tennis Club and London’s O2 Arena.
