There were few people and certainly no queues on the streets of Nottingham as the highly anticipated memoir from Prince Harry hit the shelves this morning. The controversial book had some bookshops expecting queues and preparing large stacks of hardback books ready for customers when doors opened.
The book, titled Spare, is Harry's account of his life including the death of his mother, Princess Diana, life with the Royal Family and also his marriage to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. The memoir comes after a series of interviews and a documentary series on the streaming site Netflix.
The weather appeared to play a big part in the quiet streets as there were no queues outside Waterstones on Bridlesmith Gate in Nottingham. One man nipped in to buy a copy for his wife.
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Denis Shepard, from Sherwood, was waiting outside Waterstones ahead of its 9 am opening and was the first person to buy the book there. He said: "I've been sent out to get the book for my partner as she's a royalist. The weather has actually helped as I thought there would be loads of people but there aren't. The rain is keeping them away."
The retailer said that this has been one of the 'biggest pre-order titles for a decade' and Waterstones Nottingham appeared to be expecting crowds with stacks of books by both doors. However, it remained quiet for most of the morning. Despite the quiet on the city centre streets, some shops across the country opened at 12am.
It has been a week of leaks from the book in the media after early sales of the book in Spain meant some readers have been able to share what it reveals. The 410 explosive memoir shares intimate details about Harry's fight with Prince William.
WHSmith in Victoria Centre also stocked the book which was prominently displayed at the front of the shop. There were two people purchasing the book but no queues.
Independent bookshop, Five Leaves on Long Row chose not to stock the book. They tweeted: "You likely knew this, but books on kings and queens are not really our thing."
While it's early days for the book and too soon to tell if it will go on to sell the numbers expected, it's clear that bookshops have been expecting crowds that haven't materialised yet.
