The ghostwriter behind the Duke of Sussex’s controversial memoir Spare has recalled the “frantic” reaction to the book’s publication.
John Moehringer said he was harassed and “stalked” by members of the media in the days and weeks following publication, and that passages in the book were “hyped up to outrage”.
In an article for The New Yorker, Moehringer shared his experience with the Duke after being asked to ghostwrite his memoir in the summer of 2020.
He said the pair have had numerous arguments over details of the book, including a heated argument at 2am in 2022 over an anecdote about Harry’s military training.
The Duke had been involved in a “grueling” terrorist capture simulation in which he was beaten, culminating in an insult to his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
Moehringer said Harry asked that his response to the “kidnappers” be recorded, but he refused, telling the Duke it would “dilute” the meaning of the scene.
“Although this wasn’t the first time Harry and I had fought, it felt different,” he said.
“It felt like we were speeding towards some kind of crucial break, in part because Harry didn’t say anything more… he just stared at him.”
Spare became the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time in the UK when it was published in January 2023.
Moehringer said that the reaction after the publication was that of a “frenzied mob” and that he and his family were attacked by the paparazzi.
“The British press have now translated the book into their native language, this gibberish of crazy hot takes and classic snark,” he said.
“Facts were taken out of context, complex emotions were reduced to cartoonish idiocy, innocent passages were blown up into outrage — and there were so many untruths.”
He recalled how, as he was taking his son to preschool, he was “followed” by a paparazzi standing in the middle of a street to take a picture.
Moehringer added that a newspaper journalist appeared at his window while he was working later that same day.
In the first-person perspective, he said that the experience helped him understand Harry better after his name was leaked before Spare’s release.
Moehringer has ghostwritten for other high-profile celebrities, including former tennis champion Andre Agassi and Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
The full article can be read online at The New Yorker’s website.
It comes after Harry returned to his home in Montecito, California, after a brief visit to the UK for the King’s coronation on Saturday.
