Prince Harry has used his new memoir to settle scores with the Kiwi journalist who broke the news of his decision to step back from his royal duties.

In Spare, out today, Harry takes aim squarely at Dan Wootton for beating him to announcing “Megxit” in 2020, labelling him a “sad little man”.

Harry claims that Wootton, then working for The Sun, was “likely working in concert with the Palace, whose courtiers were determined to get ahead of us and spin the story”.

He writes that he then went to the Queen to seek permission to release his own statement, to scoop Wootton.

“We soon realised it wasn’t possible; we didn’t have time to get our statement out there first. We opened a bottle of wine. Proceed, sad little man, proceed. He did.”

Wootton has responded fiercely to the Duke’s claims, writing for his new employer the Daily Mail: “It’s called journalism, mate, something you clearly don’t believe in, given the inaccuracies littered throughout your book.”

Wootton counters that Harry has got it wrong: “Just like much of the fiction and fantasy in Spare”.

“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,” Wootton writes.

In the Kiwi journo’s scathing takedown, Wootton describes Harry’s “behaviour as a man” as “largely weak and appalling”.

“His mistakes are always someone else’s,” Wootton writes.

“Harry claims he is looking for peace in Spare, but what he’s actually delivered for himself is a life of permanent emotional turmoil and chaos.

“The only ‘sad little man’ is the bloke who has so publicly thrown his own flesh and blood under the bus.”

Wootton has been a divisive figure in UK media and was at the centre of Hollywood star Johnny Depp’s defamation case in 2020, winning the case brought against the Sun for his story labelling Depp a “wife-beater” in the headline.

A British judge ruled Depp had abused his ex-wife Amber Heard after the explosive case.

Wootton was born in Wellington in 1983 and attended Naenae College and Victoria University of Wellington.

His career in journalism began at the Dominion Post, and he was also a reporter on TVNZ’s Good Morning programme. He jetted off to the UK aged 21 to further pursue his broadcasting and journalism career.

He served as a TV editor, and later was the show-business editor for the now-defunct News of the World, and also worked for the Daily Mail. The 37-year-old joined the Sun in 2013.

Dan Wootton started his career in New Zealand before going on to write for the biggest newspapers in the UK. Photo / Supplied

He published a front-page story in the Sun about Harry and Meghan’s departure from the royal family a day before the official announcement.

After the judge ruled Depp had abused his ex-wife in November last year, Wootton shared on his radio show what it was like to be sued personally by the embattled actor.

“You may know that Johnny Depp has been suing both my newspaper the Sun and me personally for a column I wrote questioning whether JK Rowling should have cast the troubled actor in her Fantastic Beasts franchise following a string of domestic abuse incidents against Amber Heard.

“But today is not about Johnny Depp. In fact, I’d be happy never to hear the bloke’s name again. I certainly won’t be talking about him anymore, even though I do hope he is able to get the help he so obviously needs.”

He shared on Twitter at the time: “Today is about @realamberheard. Thank you Amber for your bravery. Thank you for giving traumatic evidence in the face of the most toxic and unfair abuse of your character. Thank you for being prepared to take on the Hollywood machine.”