Prince Harry's ghostwriter explains the row that left Duke with …
The writer who helped Prince Harry on his memoir 'Spare' has recalled how his writing partnership was nearly over following an argument with the Duke in which "his cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed." The Duke of Sussex's ghostwriter has opened up about a row with the Prince which left him feeling "exasperated." J.
R. Moehringer said the debate happened in the summer of 2022, two years into his role as the ghostwriter on 'Spare'. The pair were reviewing Prince Harry's latest edits in a late-night Zoom session, when they came to a tricky section of the book.
Writer behind Prince Harry's memoir reveals royal's tearful reaction to its publication
Prince Harry's memoir, 'Spare', along with interviews conducted with wife Meghan Markle, have been seen by the world (Getty Images)
JR Moehringer wrote in The New Yorker about his experience working with the Prince (Getty Images)
"My head was pounding, my jaw was clenched, and I was starting to raise my voice," he said in the The New Yorker. "And yet some part of me was still able to step outside the situation and think, this is so weird. I'm shouting at Prince Harry.
"Then, as Harry started going back at me, as his cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed, a more pressing thought occurred: Whoa, it could all end right here." The section in question is when Prince Harry is captured by pretend terrorists at the end of a period of military exercises.
Prince Harry's memoir was controversial for many (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/REX/Shutterstock)
The writer explained the capture was a simulation, but, he described how the tortures inflicted in the scenario felt very real to Prince Harry. He described how the Duke was reportedly dragged to an underground bunker where he was physically, mentally and emotionally beaten by his pretend captors.
At the end of the gruelling session, Mr Moehringer explained how the Prince's pretend captors threw him against a wall, screaming insults in his face, which culminated with a dig at his mother, the late Princess Diana. Mr Moehringer said that the Prince had wanted to end the scene with a comeback he gave to his captors, something he thought unnecessary that would dilute the true meaning of the passage. He recalled how he had spent months crossing out the comeback, with Prince Harry repeatedly putting it back in.
Prince Harry and his ghostwriter reportedly argued more than once (Getty Images)
The writer explained that during this late-night Zoom call, the Prince was no longer pleading, he was insisting.
Feeling frustrated at coming back to the same issue once again at 2am, he said he was starting to lose it. Mr Moehringer said it wasn't the first time he and the Prince had argued, but said something about this argument felt different. "It felt as if we were hurtling toward some kind of decisive rupture, in part because Harry was no longer saying anything," said Mr Moehringer
"He was just glaring into the camera." Eventually, the writer said the Prince opened up, and calmly explained that he had lived his life with people 'belittling his intellectual capabilities', seeing him as intellectually inferior to others, and that to him, this final retort he threw to his pretend captors proved he still had a sharp mind, even after being beaten, tortured, deprived of sleep and food. Despite this explanation, Mr Moehringer said he still refused to include the comeback in the book.
When the Prince asked him why, he said: "Because, I told him, everything you just said is about you. You want the world to know that you did a good job, that you were smart." But, he explained to the Prince, that while the memoir is his story, 'it isn't truly about him - it's a series of moments and events that have been chosen to be shared because they resonate the most with the widest audience.'
Mr Moehringer explained that at that particular point in the memoir, readers didn't need to know any more than that the pretend captors had said a particularly cruel dig about his mother. In the nerve-wracking moments that followed, Mr Moehringer recalled how the Prince looked down for what felt like an incredibly long time, and he began to question what he had said and his approach. He talked of being able to hear awkward phone calls with Prince Harry's agent, and being thrown off the book.
However, he said that the Prince looked up and agreed with him, saying that he understood.
Relieved, Mr Moehringer thanked the Prince, who reportedly replied saying he had enjoyed getting his ghostwriter worked up.