Of all of the claims made in Omid Scobie’s latest, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, it appears one really got under Prince William’s skin.
In an excerpt of the book made public earlier this week, Scobie writes that William refused to communicate with his younger brother, Prince Harry, on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s death, and that Harry was left in the dark about travel arrangements to Scotland and Her late Majesty’s actual passing itself. (He apparently found out about his grandmother’s death via the BBC News app.) There’s a lot to unpack here, but it’s apparently this detail—that William refused to take Harry’s calls or answer his texts—the has William seething, host Kevin O’Sullivan said on TalkTV (and per The Mirror).
According to Sullivan, William is “furious” and that the claim is “absolutely not true.”
“Harry and Meghan are distancing themselves from Omid Scobie’s bombshell new book, which says principally that William refused to take Harry’s calls in the hours leading up to the Queen’s sad death,” O’Sullivan said. “William is absolutely seethingly furious about this. He’s just saying it’s absolutely not true.”
O’Sullivan added that it was “sad” to see the rift between William and Harry continue to grow, as it appeared relations were improving between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family.
Scobie continues to deny claims that he is a “mouthpiece” for the Sussexes, as The Mirror puts it; he tweeted “And let’s get this nonsense out the way—#ENDGAME is about the current state of the British Royal Family. It’s not ‘Harry and Meghan’s book,’ I’m not ‘Meg’s pal,’ the Sussexes have nothing to do with it, their story is a small part of a much bigger one you can read in 12 days.” Sussex insiders told MailOnline that Harry and Meghan had nothing to do with Endgame.
The book is described as “a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy,” and its description states that it is about “An unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.” It hits shelves November 28.
