Pulitzer Prize winner and ghostwriter of Prince Harry‘s Spare, J.R. Moehringer, has revealed he was “exasperated” with the royal while writing his incredible memoir.
I feel like everyone can sort of remember where they were when they first heard about Harry’s Spare. I remember being on a packed T1 Western train back to Mount Druitt and being completely gobsmacked with the bombshells that Harry dropped, including how he lost his virginity, his oscillating member and his experiences with drugs.
The book was a lot, but it made a mark on pop culture history.
Moehringer, who is the ghostwriter who brought these stories to life, published a first-person article on Tuesday for The New Yorker where he revealed the trials and tribulations of collaborating with the Prince.
Moehringer began the article by describing the moment he blew up at the British royal during a 2am Zoom call.
“I was exasperated with Prince Harry. My head was pounding, my jaw was clenched, and I was starting to raise my voice,” he 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 writer revealed that the big blow up happened in the summer of 2022 when they were discussing a “difficult passage”.
The passage in question was about a brutal military exercise where Harry was captured by “fake terrorists” and one of the trainers mentioned his late mother, Princess Diana. When the exercise/simulation was over, one of the participants apologised for “clawing that specific wound”.
Although that had supposedly happened, Moehringer mentioned that Harry wanted to end this heartbreaking scene in a different way.
“Harry always wanted to end this scene with a thing he said to his captors, a comeback that struck me as unnecessary, and somewhat inane,” he wrote.
“Good for Harry that he had the nerve, but ending with what he said would dilute the scene’s meaning: that even at the most bizarre and peripheral moments of his life, his central tragedy intrudes.
“For months, I’d been crossing out the comeback, and for months Harry had been pleading for it to go back in. Now he wasn’t pleading, he was insisting, and it was 2am, and I was starting to lose it. I said, ‘Dude, we’ve been over this.;’”
After Moehringer and Harry had a tense exchange over the passage, the Prince then explained his reasoning for wanting to end the scene in that way.
Moehringer wrote: “Finally, he exhaled and calmly explained that, all his life, people had belittled his intellectual capabilities, and this flash of cleverness proved that, even after being kicked and punched and deprived of sleep and food, he had his wits about him.”
Even though Harry revealed his deepest, darkest secrets, Moehringer still refused to end the passage the way he wanted.
Eventually, the Prince agreed with his ghostwriter, telling him: “I really enjoy getting you worked up like that.”
Moehringer said this zinger made him “burst into laughter” and TBH I don’t blame him.
If I was in Moehringer’s shoes, I’d probably bitch out and do what the royal told me to do, But I’m super glad that he stood his ground and got Harry’s story out.
I’m not a royal ass-kisser by any means, but Spare was honestly an interesting read. It was scandalous, somewhat relatable and his thoughts on his brother Prince William‘s hair were hilarious.
Although it may have sounded like Harry and Moehringer had some beef for a brief cheeky moment, I’m glad they were able to get it out of the way to drop this sensational book.
