Copies of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare smeared with Afghan blood to go on sale ahead of coronation

Artist Andrei Molodkin is planning to sell 25 copies of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare covered in Afghan blood days before the coronation

Copies of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare smeared with blood are set to go on sale ahead of the King’s coronation later this spring. Artist Andrei Molodkin acquired 25 copies of the book,  covering them with human blood and will display them at a shop in Windsor, according to Sky News.

The Russian anti-war artist recently projected a sculpture filled with human blood on St Paul’s Cathedral in London in a protest after the Duke of Sussex said he killed more than 20 Taliban fighter’s while in Afghanistan. Molodkin has said some of the blood  donated for the sculpture was used when creating his “alternative Spare” books, which the artist will sell from May 2 for $10,000 (£8,000) each.

Issuing a statement about his latest project, which he calls “Blood Money”, the artist said: "Prince Harry boasts of killing Taliban like they’re baddies in a video game, ‘otherising’ human life then cashing in on the sorry tale to sell books about his drug bingeing, sexual exploits and killing conquests."

In his book, Prince Harry wrote of his time in the army: "While in the heat and fog of combat, I didn’t think of those 25 as people. You can’t kill people if you think of them as people.

“You can’t really harm people if you think of them as people. They were chess pieces removed from the board, Bads taken away before they could kill Goods."

Molodkin told Sky News in March the remarks had made him “very, very angry” and he wanted to “drench St Paul’s Cathedral in the blood of Afghani people”. He added: "They read they are just ‘chess figures’... for some prince hunting by helicopter.

"It looked like a safari situation. How he told it, for him it’s like a computer game."

In the sculpture, named “Royal Blood”, the artist said he used about 1,250ml of blood which was donated by Afghans in France and the UK. He explained to all the donors exactly how the blood would be used.

The books will go on display in Windsor today (April 8) before going on sale just four days before the coronation of King Charles III. They will be sold at a/political in Kennington, London.