Prince Harry’s ghostwriter today defended Spare against damaging claims of inaccuracy and historical errors, insisting that “inadvertent errors” are common in memoirs where “the line between memory and fact is blurred”.
JR Moehringer, who has also written autobiographies for Andre Agassi and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, has come out in defense of the book he was reportedly paid $1 million to write.
Sharing an excerpt from Harry’s book, emphasizing that the exiled prince himself admits he has sometimes said he wasn’t sure of all the details he shares, often blaming childhood trauma. But in the same book he also insists: ‘It is important that the story is right’.
Moehringer tweeted Harry’s words last night: ‘Whatever the cause, my memory is my memory… there is as much truth in what I remember and how I remember it as there is in so-called objective facts.’ He also tweeted a quote from Mary Karr, author of The Art of Memoir, which read: “The line between memory and fact is a fine one, between interpretation and fact. There are inadvertent errors like that outside of wazoo.’
Harry has been accused of a number of factual errors, including claiming he was a descendant of King Henry VI, saying he was given an XBox by his mother before they were manufactured, and claiming that Meghan Markle’s father bought a Mexico-London ticket on Air New Zealand, which does not fly this route.
And today more errors have surfaced, including his memoir of the Queen Mother’s funeral, an anecdote criticizing her stepmother Camilla, and British giant TK Maxx even corrected another statement in the bombastic book where he details shopping at the shop next door to Kensington Palace with £200 buy as much as you could in 15 minutes.
Prince Harry’s memoir is full of startling claims – and some have questioned the historical accuracy of the facts presented. JR Moehringer, Harry’s ghostwriter, defended the book on Wednesday, saying the memoirs are about the subject’s view of events.
JR Moehringer twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Writing – before turning to ghostwriting books. Spare is the best-selling non-fiction book in UK history, according to Penguin.
A week after Spare was released in early Spain, the journalist and author defended Harry from claims that it is inaccurate.
He took to Twitter to share several defenses.
Another Mary Karr quote, he tweeted, read: ‘Neurologist Jonathan Mink, MD, explained to me that with memories as intense as David’s, we often register emotion alone, all the details blurred into unreadable smudges.’
The duke claimed he was given an Xbox as a gift by his aunt, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, on her 13th birthday in 1997 – despite the best-selling device being first released in the US four years later, in 2001.
He writes: ‘I ripped the wrapping paper, the ribbon. I looked inside… It was an Xbox. I was pleased. I loved video games.
“That’s the story, anyway. It has appeared in many accounts of my life, as gospel, and I have no idea if it is true. Dad said Mom hurt her head, but maybe I got brain damage?
Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare was officially released on Tuesday
Moehringer, in response to the criticism, retweeted a commenter saying: ‘It’s worth noting that IN THE BOOK, when Harry talks about the XBox (which had yet to be released in 1997), he explicitly states that he has no idea if that particular memory it’s true and explains that his mother’s death stirred his memories.’
Moehringer also retweeted a commenter saying, ‘It’s right there he says he doesn’t know if it’s true. Read that again.’
The New York-born author pointed out that Harry himself admitted that his memories were sometimes hazy.
‘Landscape, geography, architecture, that’s how my memory rolls,’ said Harry.
‘Dates? Sorry, I’ll need to look for them.
‘Dialogue? I’ll do my best, but I won’t make literal claims, especially when it comes to the nineties.
Several of the specific claims Moehringer does not address.
Harry wrote that Meghan bought a first class ticket from Mexico to Britain for Thomas Markle so he could escape worries about harassment in his adopted homeland.
That ticket was from Air New Zealand, the Duke of Sussex said.
‘We told him, leave Mexico right now: a new level of harassment is about to descend on you, so come to Britain. Now,’ revealed a snippet from Spare.
“Air New Zealand, First Class, booked and paid for by Meg.”
Air New Zealand said it has never operated flights between Mexico and the UK – and does not offer first-class service.
“We’ve never had flights between Mexico and the UK. And we only have Business Premier,’ an Air NZ spokesperson told the New Zealand Herald.
Harry claimed in Spare that Meghan bought a first class Air NZ ticket from Mexico to Britain for Thomas Markle so he could escape harassment in his adopted homeland.
The book reveals that the Sussexes rejected the late Queen’s suggestion that Meghan should fly to Mexico to try to salvage her relationship with her father (pictured)
In Spare, the Duke writes about his ‘great grandfather’, King Henry VI (above), who founded Eton College and died in 1471
Historians and pundits have criticized the vagueness and lack of fact-checking of a non-fiction project that cost £16 million ($20 million).
Further questions about the accuracy of the bombshell memories were raised after attentive readers on social media found further inaccuracies.
In Spare, the Duke writes of his ‘great-great-grandfather’, King Henry VI, who founded Eton College and died in 1471 – despite the fact that Henry VI’s direct line ended after his son, Edward of Westminster, died as a childless teenager at the Battle of Tewkesbury.
Prince Harry’s real great-great-grandfather was King George III, who reigned from 1760 to 1811, more than three centuries after the death of Henry VI.
Historians were quick to take to social media to question the accuracy of Harry’s link to Henry VI, the last of the Lancastrian dynasty.
Royal correspondent Patricia Treble pointed out the genealogical error and the fact that Henry VI had no descendants after his son’s death in 1471.
The Duke’s recount of how he learned of the Queen Mother’s death has also been questioned, with many arguing that he had been in Klosters, Switzerland, the weekend his grandmother died, not Eton College in Windsor, England.
The Duke of Sussex wrote in excruciating detail about a call he received while studying at Eton College saying that his great-grandmother had died on March 30, 2002.
He writes: ‘At Eton whilst studying I took the call.
‘I wish I could remember whose voice was on the other end; a courtier, I believe.
‘I remember it was just before Easter, the weather was clear and warm, the light streaming in through my window, full of bright colors.’
Resurfaced photographs appear to place the prince in Klosters, Switzerland, on the weekend the Queen Mother died.
Prince Harry is sitting in a car as he and his brother Prince William and their father Prince Charles drive home after a ski trip in Klosters
Princes William and Harry and their father Prince Charles with the Queen Mother during celebrations to mark her 101st birthday, 4 August 2001
However, resurfaced photos show Harry posing alongside his brother William and father Charles on a media call on March 29, having recently overcome a bout of glandular fever in time to hit the slopes.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline: ‘It appears from the evidence that he was undoubtedly at Klosters when the Queen Mother died.
‘This portrayal of being at Eton, ”the bright, warm weather, slanted light… bright colours” is therefore inaccurate.’
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