Prince Harry: Today reporter will need a 'stiff drink' to get through Spare

A Today show reporter couldn't resist taking a swipe at Prince Harry on the day his highly anticipated memoir Spare was released in Australia.

Gabrielle Boyle was filming a live cross from the Dymocks bookstore in Sydney's CBD on Wednesday morning when she joked she would need a 'stiff drink' to get through the Duke of Sussex's book.

She made the remark after noting the lack of crowds outside the George Street store, which was surprising given the round-the-clock publicity blitz surrounding the release of Spare.

Today show reporter Gabrielle Boyle (pictured) couldn't resist taking a swipe at Prince Harry on the day his highly anticipated memoir Spare was released in Australia

The segment began with Today host Lara Vella asking Boyle: 'Gabby, book shops here are hoping for long lines. Is anyone outside yet?'

Boyle laughed awkwardly as she looked around at the deserted street, and replied: 'Well, not yet, Lara. It's a few hours [to go] yet.'

Later, she said Dymocks was offering customers a free hot drink with every purchase, before adding pointedly: 'I reckon if I had to read that entire book, I would need a free stiff drink.'

This quip made Vella and co-host Alex Cullen burst into laughter back in the studio.

Boyle (right, with Lara Vella, left, and Brett McLeod, centre) was filming a live cross from the Dymocks bookstore in Sydney's CBD on Wednesday morning when she joked she would need a 'stiff drink' to get through the Duke of Sussex's book

Harry recently said he and wife Meghan Markle (right) will never move back to the UK

'Gabby, I think you speak on behalf of many people here,' Vella said, to which Cullen added: 'Whisky on the rocks.'

Today crossed back to Boyle inside Dymocks' flagship store an hour later.

Despite the lack of customers queuing up outside, she said Dymocks had already sold 600 pre-orders and stocked up on 'thousands and thousands of copies'.

However, she baulked at the price of the book: $45.

'If you're wondering how much it costs to get a copy of this, well, here at Dymocks it's retailing for $45, but at some retailers it's going for $60,' Boyle said.

'Sixty bucks for the privilege of reading this,' she added, as Cullen scoffed back at Today show headquarters.

'I don't really want to pay $45 for the privilege... I'll be downloading the audiobook and listening to it while doing the dishes.'

Harry's headline-grabbing autobiography Spare, which hit shelves on Tuesday, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up, its publisher said.

This makes it the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever.

She made the remark after noting the lack of crowds outside the George Street store, which was surprising given the round-the-clock publicity blitz surrounding the release of Spare. (Pictured: a stock photo of Spare on sale in Spain)

Despite the lack of customers queuing up outside, Boyle said Dymocks had already sold 600 pre-orders and stocked up on 'thousands and thousands of copies'

The book includes claims the Prince of Wales physically attacked Harry and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry's and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales.

In a U.S. broadcast promoting the book, Harry branded Duchess of Cornwall the 'villain' and 'dangerous', accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his.

Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said: 'We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations.

'As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry [Potter].' 

Harry's headline-grabbing autobiography Spare, which hit shelves on Tuesday, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up, its publisher said. This makes it the fastest selling non-fiction book ever. (The Duke of Sussex is pictured with Good Morning America anchor Michael Strahan on January 3)

As the duke continued a run of high profile promotional interviews, he said he 'would like nothing more' than for his children to have relationships with the royal family.

His remarks about his son and daughter came despite the criticism he has levelled at his brother William, father Charles and stepmother Camilla.

In his first print interview about his autobiography, he told U.S. magazine People that Archie, three, and 19-month-old Lili did have a connection with some of the Windsors, whom he did not name, saying this brought him 'great joy'.

He also described his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as his 'guardian angel' and said she is with him 'all the time'.

Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday to offer Harry's book – but queues were sparse after leaks ahead of the publication, with industry experts predicting Spare would be one of the best-selling pre-order titles of the past decade.

Scenes outside Australian booksellers were equally muted.

Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday to offer Harry's book – but queues were sparse after leaks ahead of the publication. Scenes outside Australian booksellers were equally muted. (Pictured: a Waterstones bookstore in London's Piccadilly on Tuesday)