Prince Harry's bombshell memoir will be released on January 10

Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir will be released on January 10th, publishing industry insiders reveal as Harry ‘battles to water down the content after the death of the Queen’

• The memoir had initially been signed off ready for an expected autumn release
• But release was delayed following Queen’s death and and alterations requested
• Harry had been attempting to it tone down amid fears it ‘might not go down well’
• Penguin Random House described book as ‘an intimate and heartfelt memoir’ 

Prince Harry’s memoir will be released on January 10, it has been revealed, as he battled to water down its content following the Queen’s death.

The memoir had initially been signed off ready for an expected autumn release as part of a multi-million pound, three-title deal with Penguin Random House.

But its release was delayed following the death of the Queen and a number of alterations requested by the Duke of Sussex.

Last month, The Mail on Sunday reported that Harry had launched a last-minute bid to tone down the autobiography amid fears his final draft ‘might not go down too well’ in the wake of the monarch’s death.

His request was seen as a sign that he was ready to take a more conciliatory approach to the rest of the Royal Family, with any attacks or veiled swipes being seen as inappropriate just weeks into his father’s reign. 

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, pictured arriving at Westminster Abbey ahead of the Queen’s state funeral last month

A source said: ‘Harry has thrown a spanner in the works,’ a source said. ‘He is keen for refinements in the light of the Queen’s death, her funeral and his father Charles taking the throne.

‘There may be things in the book which might not look so good if they come out so soon after these events. He wants sections changed now. It’s not a total rewrite by any means. He desperately wants to make changes. But it might be too late.’

It comes after Penguin Random House had already demanded a rewrite after the first draft was deemed ‘too touchy-feely’ and placed too much focus on mental health issues. 

Harry faces a battle between further damaging an already strained relationship with his family and potentially hurting book sales by holding back on any claims.

Literary agent Matt Latimer told the New York Times: ‘Is his goal to enhance his celebrity with a certain sector of the public, or is it to repair the rift with his family?’ 

‘Those are competing goals to some extent, and it’s hard to do both.’

In an earlier statement announcing the global publishing deal, Penguin Random House described the memoir as ‘an intimate and heartfelt memoir’, promising that ‘Prince Harry will offer an honest and captivating personal portrait’. 

The publishers added that the book would cover Harry’s ‘lifetime in the public eye from childhood to the present day, including his dedication to service, the military duty that twice took him to the front lines of Afghanistan, and the joy he has found in being a husband and father’. 

It is understood that the Sussexes were paid an advance of $20 million (£18.4 million) for the book as part of a three-title deal worth £36.8 million.

Meanwhile, the controversial fly-on-the-wall documentary series featuring the couple for Netflix has also been postponed until next year, following the widespread backlash over The Crown.

Harry and Meghan had been working on the series as part of their rumoured $100 million (£88million) deal with the streaming giant.

But with The Crown accused of fabricating a ‘hurtful’ smear against King Charles by depicting him secretly plotting to oust the Queen, Netflix has now pushed it back.

The documentary had been expected in December, following the fifth season of The Crown. A source told Hollywood news website Deadline: ‘They’re rattled at Netflix, and they blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary.’

The decision to halt the documentary series comes just weeks after the Sussexes were reportedly ‘at odds’ with the production staff about making ‘extensive edits’.

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