23 January 2023 , 15:11
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Prince Harry's bombshell memoir has been torn to bits by reputation experts who claim it has "broken some of the cardinal rules of reputation management". The Duke of Sussex's tell-all autobiography Spare became one of the fastest-selling books of all time after selling 467,183 copies in its first week, according to official figures from Nielsen BookData.
But it received its fair share of criticism after the Prince made scathing accusations against the Royal Family, putting his main focus on Prince William, Kate Middleton the Princess of Wales and Camilla Queen Consort.
Edward Coram-James, a public relations, reputation and crisis management expert, told the Express: "How has the story been presented? Poorly. It has broken some of the cardinal rules of reputation management.
Spare sold 467,183 copies in its first week (Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)"Half of the battle with reputation management is to make sure that your actions meet your words. This is all about perception.
"Ultimately Harry may well be being sincere when he says that he wishes for reconciliation with his family. But, by saying this while continuing to throw punches against them, he risks appearing insincere.
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"And, if you appear insincere on one major thing, you often reduce your credibility in all things that you say.
"He also criticises the Royal Family for allegedly leaking private stories about him to the press. However, his reaction to this has been to air all of the family laundry in the most public manner possible.
"By creating such a clear distinction between their words and their actions, many have called them out for hypocrisy."
Mr Coram-James added: "We will never know if they are truly being hypocritical, as we simply do not know enough details to make such an assessment. And it is important to recognise that fact.
"However, the optics of hypocrisy are very hard to ignore. And if one appears hypocritical, in the roll out of a reputation management campaign, then one loses the battle in that very instance."
It comes as Coram-James claimed the Royal Family have "pulled a blinder" by refusing to publicly respond to the allegations in Harry's book.
Buckingham and Kensington Palaces have maintained a wall of silence over Spare.
The royal couple stepped down as working royals in March 2020.
Prior to the book release this month, Netflix series Harry & Meghan launched in December, which also includes accusations against the royals.
Their Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021 saw Meghan suggest a senior member of the family questioned how dark then-unborn son Archie's skin would be.
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