Prince Harry's eyes "narrowed" during an argument with the ghostwriter who worked with him on his memoir Spare.
In an essay published earlier this month, J.R. Moehringer opened up about some tense exchanges with the Duke of Sussex while they went over the final editors of Harry's memoir Spare, which came out in January this year.
The writer explained that he thought his writing partnership was nearly over following an argument with the Duke in which "his cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed."
Mr Moehringer said the argument happened in the summer of 2022 while he and Harry were reviewing his latest edits in a late-night Zoom session.
When they came to a tricky section of the book, the writer said he began feeling frustrated and shouting at Harry, who in turn started going back at him.
"My head was pounding, my jaw was clenched, and I was starting to raise my voice," he wrote in 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 of the book that caused the arguemnt was when Prince Harry is captured by pretend terrorists at the end of a period of military exercises.
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.
The writer said he felt frustrated as Harry began insisting, during their Zoom call, that the line should be included.
Following an argument, however, Harry 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.
But despite this explanation, Mr Moehringer said he still refused to include the comeback in the book and 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 Harry, 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."
After some time, Mr Moehringer said that Harry looked up and they locked eyes, at which point the Duke accepted that the line should not be included before showing the writer "a mischievous grin" and reportedly telling him: "I really enjoy getting you worked up like that."
According to Nielsen, Spare sold a total of 467,183 print copies through UK retailers in its first week of release, making it the number one on the book charts.
The Guinness World Record confirmed the memoir was the fastest-selling nonfiction book ever on its first day of publication.
Waterstones said the pre-orders for Spare, which are counted in the first official week of sales, were "the largest on record for a nonfiction title" for the retailer.
