Prince Harry’s memoir Spare beaten to top gong by puzzle book at British Book Awards

Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir ‘Spare’ has been beaten in every category it was nominated for at the British Book Awards.

A puzzle book, children’s writer, comedian, and a former MP were among the winners that claimed victory over the duke at Monday night’s awards.

The 39-year-old’s book grabbed headlines when it was released last January as it included never-seen-before details of royal feuds including the accusation that his brother, the Prince of Wales, pushed him into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan Markle.

The ghost-written autobiography was given nods in the categories of Audiobook: non-fiction, which the Duke of Sussex provided, and non-fiction: narrative.

Unfortunately, Harry did not have the same success as his father, the King, did at the awards, also known as the Nibbies, when he won author of the year when it first launched in 1990.

He lost out in the non-fiction narrative category to former MP and international development secretary Rory Stewart’s book ‘Politics on the Edge’ and was beaten by comedian Fern Brady’s memoir ‘Strong Female Character’ in the non-fiction audiobook category.

Meanwhile, Harry was not shortlisted for the overall book of the year prize, which went to a puzzle book - Murdle by GT Karber - for the first time.

The judges include Mr Bates Vs The Post actor, Toby Jones, BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake, ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly and crime author Janice Hallett announced the winner at Grosvenor House in London on Monday night.

The panel said they “loved the whole concept”, praising the book as a “really clever idea done really well” and agreed the “genius” book had expanded the market.

The book is described as ‘100 simple to impossible mysteries to solve using logic, skill, and the power of deduction’.

The duke also missed out on a nomination in the author of the year category, which was instead won by children’s author Katherine Rundell.

Harry used the 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 Charles refused to allow the Duchess of Sussex to join the Duke in Scotland as the late Queen was dying.

The memoir sold 706,978 copies and also detailed events in his life including cocaine use and losing his virginity to an older woman.

According to Nielsen BookData, it was the fasted-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998, despite extracts being leaked online.