The Princess of Wales ignored Meghan’s “cries for help” and can be “cold”, according to a controversial new book that reports several allegations about the royals.
Omid Scobie’s book Endgame – which is out today – claims the future of the monarchy is in a “fight for survival”, with a growing apathy and lack of interest in young people listed among the top issues.
There is also a rift between the King and William, the book claims, while the Queen “quietly thanked” Piers Morgan for “defending the Firm”.
Here, Sky News looks at five “revelations” from the book.
Kate ‘ignored Meghan’s cries for help’
The book claims the Princess of Wales can be timid and has to be encouraged to take part in engagements.
A “source” says Kate can be “cold if she doesn’t like someone”, with the writer adding: “This is a side of Kate that rarely gets written about.
“Advocating for mental health causes – the mental health of mothers, for that matter – but ignoring her own sister-in-law’s cries for help seemed out of character for someone the public knew as sweet and easy to get along with.”
Meghan’s letters to Charles
The book makes a series of claims involving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – including that William and other family members “covertly sanctioned” leaks to the press about Harry.
William ignored texts from Harry, it is alleged, when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year, while Meghan and the King – then the Prince of Wales – reportedly exchanged letters after her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The letters were said to reveal the identity of two people the duchess claims aired “concerns” about the colour of then-unborn Prince Archie’s skin.
Mr Scobie previously co-authored 2020 book Finding Freedom, which chronicled Harry and Meghan in glowing terms, and they again receive favourable treatment in his latest work.
The 42-year-old author said he did not interview Meghan for Endgame, but shares mutual friends with her, which helped with sourcing information.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said in the book to be “in a good place”.
King’s ‘inability to command his family’
In Endgame, Mr Scobie claims the King “is still dealing with the fallout from his inability to convene and command his own family”.
“His ineptitude surrounding the Harry and Meghan saga has effectively turned the couple into the disruptors they were feared to become in the first place,” the author adds.
The King was “cold and brief”, Endgame quotes a source as saying, rather than “open to proper dialogue” when he spoke to his son.
The writer also claims the King missed an opportunity to let “bygones be bygones” and begin a new chapter in his relationship with Harry, when the Duke of Sussex contacted his father after the release of his memoir, Spare, which made several severe allegations about the Royal Family.
Tensions between King and Prince William
Mr Scobie suggests the King’s relationship with William appears to be just as fractious.
“Distrust and simmering animosity between father and son are nothing new to their working relationship,” he writes.
Read more:
Omid Scobie says he did not interview Megan for new book
Biggest revelations from Prince Harry’s memoir Spare
Harry cuts a sad, self-indulgent and naive figure in his memoir
Queen’s ‘sympathy’ for Meghan
The Queen has told others she has “great sympathy” for what Meghan went through, Mr Scobie writes in his book.
According to a royal source cited in the book, however, she has “no respect” for the way the Duke and Duchess of Sussex handled themselves.
Harry has previously attacked his stepmother’s reputation, describing her as “dangerous” and criticising her attempts to rehabilitate her “image” at his cost.
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace declined to comment on the claims made in Mr Scobie’s book.
The book’s full title is Endgame: Inside The Royal Family And The Monarchy’s Fight For Survival, and its chapters include Race And The Royals: Institutional Bigotry And Denial, and another called Gloves On: Prince William, Heir To The Throne.
