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Home / Lifestyle

What is Harry and Meghan’s biographer Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame about?

By India McTaggart
Daily Telegraph UK·
6 Nov, 2023 02:04 AM3 mins to read

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Omid Scobie's book has branded the King as “unpopular” and the Prince of Wales as “a power-hungry heir”. Photo / Getty Images

Omid Scobie's book has branded the King as “unpopular” and the Prince of Wales as “a power-hungry heir”. Photo / Getty Images

The description for a new book by Omid Scobie has branded the King as “unpopular” and the Prince of Wales as “a power-hungry heir”.

Omid Scobie, 42, launched new promotional material on Amazon for his forthcoming “explosive” book about the royal family.

The description for Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival says the book is “explosive”.

It is described as a “penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy - 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.”

Co-operation with the Sussexes

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Scobie, who previously detailed the events of “Megxit” in his 2020 book Finding Freedom, has made claims that he is one of the few journalists writing about the British monarchy whose work is impartial and “spin-free”.

Scobie has made claims that he is one of the few journalists writing about the British monarchy whose work is impartial and "spin-free". Photo / Instagram, @scobiesnaps
Scobie has made claims that he is one of the few journalists writing about the British monarchy whose work is impartial and "spin-free". Photo / Instagram, @scobiesnaps

“Endgame not only looks at the successes of our royal family, but also the failures; the things to be proud of and those they should be ashamed of,” he wrote in the newspaper.

Finding Freedom, which he wrote with Carolyn Durand, made sweeping personal revelations about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who repeatedly denied co-operating with the two authors.

However, Meghan was later forced to admit in the High Court privacy claim against Associated Newspapers that she had authorised an aide to brief them.

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The Duchess apologised in 2021 for misleading the court and claimed that she “had not remembered” email exchanges in which she was told about a two-hour meeting between Jason Knauf, her communications secretary, Scobie and Durand.

Meghan Markle apologised for misleading the court and claimed that she “had not remembered” email exchanges. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan Markle apologised for misleading the court and claimed that she “had not remembered” email exchanges. Photo / Getty Images

Meanwhile, the new title has been billed as Scobie “pulling back the curtain on an institution in turmoil” following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year.

On Amazon, the description states: “Queen Elizabeth II’s death ruptured the already fractured foundations of the House of Windsor—and dismantled the protective shield around it.”

“With an institution long plagued by antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernising world.”

Charges of racism to be ‘robustly rebutted’

Scobie claims to have interviewed “current and former palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves” for Endgame.

Finding Freedom was notably favourable towards the Sussexes and written from their perspective.

Finding Freedom was notably favourable towards the Sussexes. Photo / Getty Images
Finding Freedom was notably favourable towards the Sussexes. Photo / Getty Images

Endgame is expected to take a similar tone, and Scobie has admitted he has spent time in California while working on the book.

A source reportedly told the Mail on Sunday: “I’ve been told this is bad, very bad. It is unlikely that royal aides will comment, but if there are charges of racism, they will, of course, be robustly rebutted.”

The newspaper reported that the book will be serialised in a major US magazine, but not in the UK.

Endgame was originally due to be published in August, but the release date was pushed back to include events surrounding the King’s coronation in May.

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