Prince Harry's Ghostwriter Recalls Heated Argument With Him Over Princess Diana Story for 'Spare' Memoir

Prince Harry's ghostwriter is sharing the more intense side of working with the Duke of Sussex. In an essay for The New Yorker, J.R. Moehringer shared an argument he had with the royal while working on his memoir, Spare, which was released in January. The heated conversation began as the two were discussing a training exercise Harry underwent during his time in the military over Zoom with Moehringer.

"Harry, at the close of grueling military exercises in rural England, gets captured by pretend terrorists. It's a simulation, but the tortures inflicted upon Harry are very real," Moehringer wrote in his essay. "He's hooded, dragged to an underground bunker, beaten, frozen, starved, stripped, forced into excruciating stress positions by captors wearing black balaclavas. The idea is to find out if Harry has the toughness to survive an actual capture on the battlefield."

"Harry's captors throw him against a wall, choke him, and scream insults into his face, culminating in a vile dig at – Princess Diana?" Moehringer continued, noting that soon after, one of the participants in the exercise apologized to Harry over the comment. In response, the royal responded with "a comeback" that the ghostwriter thought was "unnecessary" to include – which sparked the argument. 

"I was exasperated with Prince Harry. My head was pounding, my jaw was clenched, and I was starting to raise my voice," Moehringer wrote. "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 disagreement led to months of back and forth between the two over whether or not to include the comeback, as Harry wanted it in the memoir to show that "even after being kicked and punched and deprived of sleep and food, he had his wits about him," but Moehringer wanted the Duke to realize his memoir "isn't about you."

"It's a story carved from your life, a particular series of events chosen because they have the greatest resonance for the widest range of people, and at this point in the story those people don't need to know anything more than that your captors said a cruel thing about your mom," Moehringer told the royal. The explanation seemed to get through to the royal, whom Moehringer wrote shot him a "mischievous grin" before telling him, "I really enjoy getting you worked up like that.'" The author then "burst into laughter and shook my head, and we moved on to his next set of edits."

Overall, Moehringer has fond memories of working with Harry, as the two had a shared experience of losing their moms. "I called him dude right away; it made him chuckle. I found his story, as he outlined it in broad strokes, relatable and infuriating," he wrote. "The way he'd been treated, by both strangers and intimates, was grotesque. In retrospect, though, I think I selfishly welcomed the idea of being able to speak with someone, an expert, about that never-ending feeling of wishing you could call your mom."