Prince Harry has labelled Kiwi journalist Dan Wootton, who works for the Daily Mail, a "sad little man". Photo: Supplied / Penguin Random House
The royal family aren't the only ones in the firing line in Prince Harry's memoir Spare - a Kiwi journalist working in the UK has also found himself the target of the Prince's rage.
Lower Hutt-born Dan Wootton was executive editor of British tabloid The Sun when he leaked news the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be stepping back as senior members of the royal family in 2020, an event that quickly became known as 'Megxit'.
In Spare, Prince Harry describes Wootton as a "sad little man" who was "likely working in concert with the Palace, whose courtiers were determined to get ahead of us and spin the story".
The Duke and Duchess attempted to beat the journalist to the scoop by seeking permission from the late Queen Elizabeth II to release their own statement, but "realised it wasn't possible" and instead he and Meghan Markle "opened a bottle of wine" together.
Wootton has bitten back at the 38-year-old prince in a piece for the Daily Mail's MailOnline, in which he labels Spare "the most pathetic, self-serving and tone-deaf autobiography".
"It's called journalism, mate, something you clearly don't believe in, given the inaccuracies littered throughout your book," Wootton wrote.
"Harry admits he went to the late Queen with the information that I was about to break the story, in order for the Sussexes to release a statement to scoop me, despite the fact I'd given them over a week's notice already by that point.
"The only 'sad little man' is the bloke who has so publicly thrown his own flesh and blood under the bus."
- This article originally appeared on [ https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/royals/300782109/kiwi-journalist-dan-wootton-hits-back-at-prince-harrys-attack-its-called-journalism-mate Stuff].