Tensions between Prince William and Harry are so bad that there is “no going back” for either of them, according to the controversial author of a new book about the royal family.
The new release from Omid Scobie, titled Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, details the deterioration of their sibling relationship in the wake of Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, something he claims was further cemented in the hours leading up to the Queen’s death in September 2022.
In his follow-up to Finding Freedom, the bestseller about Harry and Meghan’s departure from the royal family, Mr Scobie claims that the Duke of Sussex has become a “threat to the crown” because he is willing to think and act in a way contrary to traditional royal expectations.
Among the bombshell claims in the new book, extracts of which have been obtained by US magazine People and shared by The Times, is the allegation that Harry found out his grandmother had died after receiving a BBC News app alert announcing the news.
It’s claimed by Mr Scobie that, ahead of this, Harry was forced to travel alone to Balmoral after his father, King Charles, told him to leave Meghan at home.
Harry found out his grandmother had died after receiving a BBC News app alert announcing the news, according to the new book— (PA)
While Charles is said to have told Harry that William’s wife, Kate Middleton, would not be there either, due to protocol, a palace aide suggested that Kate was given a choice and stayed at home as it was her children’s first day at a new school. “They just didn’t want Meghan there,” a former palace aide is alleged to have said.
According to extracts from the book, no transport was arranged for Harry, who chartered a plane from Luton for $37,000 (£29,000) after learning of the Queen’s poor health, and it was during this flight, when he was out of contact, that her death was announced.
While Harry was in the air, his team was allegedly engaged in a “tug-of-war” with Buckingham Palace about whether the news should be revealed to the world, and Buckingham Palace ultimately decided not to wait for Harry’s plane to land.
A friend of Harry’s told Mr Scobie for the book that the prince was “crushed” by this as “his relationship with the Queen was everything to him” and “she would have wanted him to know before it went out to the world”.
The friend added: “They could have waited just a little longer. It would have been nothing in the grand scheme of things, but no one respected that at all.”
Mr Scobie co-wrote Finding Freedom with Carolyn Durand, a book about Harry and Meghan’s departure from the royal family.
A former palace aide allegedly said that Meghan was not wanted when the Queen was dying— (PA)
Meghan’s lawyers previously denied collaborating with Mr Scobie and Ms Durand on the book but, in November 2021, the duchess apologised to the High Court for not remembering that she agreed an aide could provide information to the authors for the biography.
Mail Online highlighted an extract from Mr Scobie’s book that claims Harry was “kept in the dark” about the Queen’s ailing health, and was unaware that Buckingham Palace “was already planning for the Queen’s final hours and the first days of the monarchy’s new era”.
Mr Scobie alleges in the book that William ignored a message from his brother asking if they could travel to Scotland to see their grandmother.
The writer described Harry’s memoir Spare, which was published in January, “as his last attempt at telling his family how he’s felt for years”, but said “absolutely nothing has changed” – and that “some within the institution believe Harry to “a threat to the crown” due to “his freedom to exert his own thinking outside of the confines of the institution”.
Mr Scobie claims that a source he spoke to for the new book viewed Harry as a “defector”.
The book claims that the Duke of Sussex has become a ‘threat to the crown’ because he is willing to think and act in a way contrary to traditional royal expectations— (Jeff Spicer/Getty)
Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace and Archewell have all declined to comment on the claims made in Endgame, which will be released on 28 November.
The claims come a day after Harry called his father to wish him a happy 75th birthday, with The Telegraph reporting the warm conversation marked a turning point.
According to the outlet, Charles also spoke to Meghan, while Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet recorded a video singing happy birthday to their grandfather.
