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To the Daily Mail, he is the “Sussex cheerleader,” to the Telegraph he’s the author of “ludicrous propaganda for Team Sussex” and to Piers Morgan he’s a “little weasel who makes a living peddling constant garbage about the Royal family on behalf of the world’s most disingenuous victims, Meghan and Harry” — yes, that’s the words of a man who has been been ruthless in his coverage of Meghan Markle ever since she, by his own admission, “ghosted” him after they got drinks together one time in 2016. But Omid Scobie, the author of hit royal biography Finding Freedom and his latest book, Endgame— says public opinions about his relationship with Meghan and Prince Harry are misconstrued.
Scobie chatted with SheKnows exclusively about Endgame, his latest offering that investigates the state of the monarchy after Meghan and Harry’s departure, the Queen’s death and many transformative events that have left the Royal family in a state of flux over the past number of years.
‘Endgame’ by Omid Scobie
It’s not hard to see why the perception that Scobie’s writing leans more favorably towards Meghan and Harry exists. Finding Freedom dishes out many allegations about the troubles the couple faced in the lead up to and aftermath of their decision to step back from royal duties and move to the United States. Endgame points its focus back at the Royal family and the scramble to hold on to the British public’s trust — a scramble that is palpable in the media even without Scobie shedding a light on it. Like any journalist, Scobie can only relay what he has learned from sources and if that information at times paints Prince William and other senior royals in a bad light, is it his duty to bury allegations about one of the oldest and most powerful institutions in the world just to keep up appearances?
“The monarchy is the head of the Church of England, one of the holiest roles, to not ask these questions, I think is just a disservice to the public,” Scobie says during our conversation, pointing out that the family has long been propped up as an ideal example of British morals, values and ethics so we cannot simply ignore information to the contrary.
Some of the tidbits from the book that have been picked up by the press is the labeling of Prince William as “hot headed” and, as a source told Scobie, “hard to handle.” Of course, we have already heard allegations about William’s temper directly from his own brother so Scobie is hardly the first to characterize the future king in this way.
But Scobie is fair, perhaps even complimentary, when it comes to his assessment of William’s level-headed handling of his royal role. “A calm and collected character is what the system demands of the heir to the throne,” Scobie, who has been covering the royals since 2011, writes. “The Prince of Wales plays it to a tee.”
“Many people I’ve spoken to who’ve known him believe William comes by this honestly,” Scobie writes of William’s embracing of his royal duties. “It is said that after maturing into his position at the Firm, the prince now aims to follow in the Queen’s footsteps.”
This take is often echoed by William’s biggest supporters, the very people who would probably prefer to paint Scobie as an antagonist in the future king’s story. For those who are more analytical about the pressure their heir faces, Scobie offers an alternative, and equally empathetic, explanation for William’s renewed dedication to the monarchy — after all, anyone who has observed how the Royal family operates knows that William has very little wiggle room when it comes to upholding the royal status quo.
“The counter to this is that the Firm incrementally institutionalized Prince William—the unyielding pressure from the establishment wore him down into a stoic acceptance of his fate as the next great hope for the monarchy,” Scobie suggests before concluding, “The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.” Of course, Scobie follows this with a passage filled with insider claims about William’s less flattering moments behind closed doors — a Google search of the book will give you many quotes from this section and these highly-publicized but strategically edited quotes certainly help paint a picture of Scobie on a war path against the remaining royals. However, if the issue is that Scobie’s sources claim the Royal family’s carefully crafted public persona is not how they appear behind the scenes, then it seems that the family’s supporters would rather live in ignorance.
Scobie simply isn’t writing for these supporters, nor is he catering to a pro-royal stance that has long been echoed in tabloid media who rely on the family for content. “This was written for, I believe, a large section of our public who comfortable having questions about the kind of future relevance and purpose of the Royal family,” Scobie tells us. Given that a survey of Britons published earlier this year revealed that 45% of respondents said either the monarchy should be abolished, was not at all important or not very important, Scobie’s prospective audience is at an all time high. “I wanted to create something that just lined up all the facts, and added my own experiences,” he says.
So as for the often-parroted claim that he is a friend of Meghan’s who is doing her bidding? “I wish Meghan was telling me things,” Scobie jokes. “It has never been the case. I’ve never in my life sat down with her privately or publicly. Any interactions I’ve had with her I’ve actually shared and articles, or one other in the book”
“I exist in a world where, on the Royal news beat, every royal correspondent has like their niche area,” Scobie notes. It’s clear that he feels he has been mistreated in comparison to the many other royal correspondents who focus on specific members of the family. “There are royal reporters that you’ll read and follow for the William stuff, because you know that they’ve got an inside track to his team or people in his world. Or there’ll be the royal editor who’s the go-to for King Charles,” Scobie points out. “Not one of them have ever been called ‘the friend’ or ‘the defender’ or ‘the mouthpiece.'”
Scobie insists that he’s just delivering information he has acquired over his lengthy career. “I don’t know what I think of Meghan, and I think it’s almost irrelevant to have a personal opinion of her. I can understand why she’s a polarizing figure today. But when I go back to her life as a working royal, I only saw her and wrote about her as a human being at the receiving end of some really nasty stuff, some of which was enabled and created within by and within the institution of the monarchy.”
This is the reality so often ignored by tabloids hammering down on their anti-Meghan narrative. The former actress stood before us and candidly revealed that the racism and bullying she experienced in the British media almost entirely destroyed her mental health. To gloss over her claims and ignore anything that might incriminate the Royal family is dangerous. Scobie believes that, instead of questioning why he is writing so-called pro-Sussex content, we should be asking why no one else is.
“There’s very few people up close and personal who feel comfortable to write that,” Scobie says. “Because the result is you won’t be invited to the private media briefings or given the text message with a heads ups of things the night before a news story breaks.”
But this silence, Scobie says, “comes at a cost” and that cost is, often, the full story. “When I wrote this book, I made it really clear that it was written without fear or favor, without any worry over what bridges may be burned, as long as the story that I felt needed to be told was told.”
Before you go, click here to find out which tell-all books expose major royal family secrets.
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