Prince Harry’s bestselling memoir Spare has been parodied in a spoof biography titled ‘Spare Us! A Harrody’ by author Bruno Vincent. The 42-year-old former book editor is best known for his series of humorous takes on Enid Blyton’s Famous Five collection but decided to try his hand at a parody of the Duke of Sussex’s book because “there was a lot of meat in there” to tear apart.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Vincent said he knew the book would be fun to work on and soon got started, reading the memoir three times before completing several drafts of his version at breakneck speed – within two weeks.
He described his book as “an affectionate parody rather than a merciless takedown”, adding: “A book that was just filled with bile and hate would be very unpleasant to write and very joyless to read.”
The author said the parody was more about making light of the royal than being cruel, and said: “I naturally gravitate towards just poking fun, which I think is pretty much the British national sport.”
He continued: “The target for the book wasn’t necessarily about Harry himself, it was just the whole project of the autobiography. I found it easy to mock.”
Mr Vincent noted a few bizarre aspects of the book, particularly that a Briton had written something so obviously targeted to a US audience, noting how jarring it was for a UK reader.
The frequent references to the US sitcom Friends were also a bit much, he said, as well as his habit of “wandering off into philosophical ramblings”.
But the author did have some choice words to say about his impression of Harry’s memoir and the royal himself.
“[The aim of the book] was to poke fun at Harry a bit – but not in a cruel way,” he said. “It’s just the book, reading his book, I found it funny. And in some cases, very silly and it deserved to be poked fun at.”
Mr Vincent added that while he believes the Duke was in “a difficult position” and sympathsied that it wasn’t his fault that he was born into royalty, he added: “It’s not his fault that he’s basically a bit stupid – it’s not his fault.”
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Mr Vincent has been taken aback by the initial response to his book, which will be published from Saturday, April 1.
But he ruled out doing a take of Prince Andrew’s memoir – if the King’s brother decides to pen a book. Mr Vincent said: “If Prince Andrew writes an autobiography and I’m approached to do a parody of it I’m going to change my name and move to Venezuela.
“No, I’m not going to do a parody of Prince Andrew’s autobiography.”
He also appeared to rule out parodying Harry’s wife Meghan if she decided to publish a memoir.
For now, Mr Vincent is returning to writing children’s books, which he said “couldn’t be more different” than his Spare parody.
Spare Us! A Harrody by Bruce Vincent is available from April 1, 2023
