"End Game" by Omid Scobie - 2023

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 4- Remembrance of Things Past: The Ongoing Campaign to Make The Royals Great Again

The loaded title of this chapter reinforces a theme Scobie introduced back in Chapter 1- that the Royal family relies on a form of cheap patriotism closely related to bigoted ideas to stay relevant. In Chapter 1, he said "To stay relevant, the system, in an almost Trumpian twist, leans on patriotism—even jingoism—to shore up its purpose. When in doubt, festoon the palace, unfurl the Union Jacks, and enlist the tabloids." Personally, I have always felt that the WWII-era patriotism usually invoked by the monarchy is more about pulling together than it is dividing people apart and Scobie acknowledges this when it comes to the reign of the late Queen. He described her strategy in a way I agree with, saying "the Queen and her advisors transformed the monarchy’s image from a regal manifestation of empire and preeminent influence to a domestic expression of continuity, civic obligation, and enigmatic “Britishness.” He doesn't believe that this transfers at all into the King's reign, and compares the rest of the family to soap opera tabloid stars. He also believes that the monarchy "overdosed" on the power of nostalgia and patriotism and came to rely on it exclusively. He uses that to transition to some more talking points about Prince Harry.

Here are the two big quotes that jumped out at me in this section:

"Prince Harry found purpose in serving his country in the military, an unquestionably honorable thing to do, but it’s worth mentioning that his time in uniform also gave his “bad-boy” tabloid image a much-needed “for the Mother Country” makeover. While Harry served, the Palace heavily leaned on the young prince’s time on the battlefield in Afghanistan for a boost of its own."

"The Firm considered it a PR win to have one of its own on the front lines. "There was a certain amount of pressure put on Harry by the institution to please the press in that situation," a source said. "It wasn’t his choice to carry out interviews, but he was told it was the right thing to do.' Thanks to those interviews, the world discovered that Harry personally killed several Taliban fighters, a revelation that made the front pages of every newspaper at the time."

Essentially, this chapter accuses the royal family of pushing Prince Harry to the frontlines for good press, forcing him to work with the papers, and thus making him reveal something that puts his security at risk to this day- a pretty strong argument to make for someone who, say, wants to justify their right to have their security costs funded. I very much believe that this chapter was mostly written to make these points.

The chapter then talks again about how Charles will never be as popular as his mother and uses as an example that the Platinum Jubilee was able to book more super star performers than the coronation concert- without acknowledging that of course, the Platinum Jubilee date could be selected years in advance and talks about how William and Kate are getting old and boring: "As older millennials in their early forties, William and Kate should still have some vitality to offer, but many of their overtures—such as their rather stiff guest appearances for BBC Radio 1 and its fifteen-to-twenty-nine-year-old audience—may start to come off as slightly contrived."

 

[Granada]

HRHHermoine. Many Thanks.
Such a spiteful, condescending, mean spirited AND one sided partisan book, doesn't seem impartial or the least bit objective.

Two points for me..I'm not surprised Charles wrote letters to Meghan. He is known to be a prolific letter writer, and he *supposedly* does not even have a personal cell phone.
Charles got into controversy years ago regarding the so called 'Black Spider Memos' and Letters he wrote as POW to Government Officials, on political matters. He likes to write Letters, apparently to get things off his chest, and be well meaning. Rightly or wrongly, it seems these things in the hands of the wrong People can backfire on him. As it did then, and *potentially* here. (?) ..... I don't know.

Second, Kate has NEVER struck me as a mean girl or "nasty" .....Ever. II find it very odd and surprising that She would be accused of being involved in this "royal racist" brouhaha.

Kate herself was bullied as a young teenager at Downe House School, I guess it was terrible and relentless. Very damaging, so much so, that her Parents pulled her out and sent her to Marlborough where she excelled. So as with nearly EVERYTHING Scobie alleges, I take it with a HEAPING grain of salt.

 

[Asteria12]

I think I'd overdose on salt if I had to take anything from Scobie.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 5- Baggage: The Lingering Trials of King Charles

Every chapter header has a quote or two, and most of them don't add much. This one though, opens with a P.G. Wodehouse quote and the point of it is clearly to set up the argument that the late Queen was a naturally more competent monarch than Charles, but the quote really rubbed me the wrong way. It is "At the age of eleven or thereabouts women acquire a poise and an ability to handle difficult situations which a man, if he is lucky, manages to achieve somewhere in the later seventies." A progressive thinker as Scobie claims to be might consider (especially as he writes about Prince Andrew) that this way of thinking is often used to treat girls differently to boys in a way that can be very harmful. I would expect anyone fluent in feminist thought, especially when it comes to gender identity, to consider that. Weird. Anyway, moving on.

The chapter talks about the King's acceptance of charitable donations as the "bags of cash" scandal and then revisits Michael Fawcett and the "cash for access" controversies. I don't have it in me to go into the details there, but they are better and more accurately reported in other books and by serious journalists. He uses this to set up the purchase of Dumfries House by the Prince's Trust as kind of an extravagant vanity purchase by an oligarch" "Owned by former F1 driver John Crichton-Stuart, the 7th Marquess of Bute, Charles needed the countryside home (complete with its original eighteenth-century paintings, artifacts, and Thomas Chippendale furniture) and its two thousand acres of land the moment he laid eyes on it. It was the perfect spot for him to plant a flag and make a statement—a new HQ for HRH Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay, the peerage title he uses while in Scotland. The only problem was this grand old manor was valued at an eye-watering £43 million." Interestingly, Scobie does not consider this as a part of the King's longstanding interest in historical architectural preservation- which is ironic, given that in a later chapter, he will argue that it is Britain's heritage sites, not the monarchy, that drives British tourism.

Then comes a particularly galling piece of hypocrisy. After spending the majority of Chapter 1 insinuating that Charles is bigoted and backwards, Scobie notes that he criticized the government for deporting Rwandan refugees- and damns him with extremely faint praise. "For a royal, particularly the incoming King, to comment on government policy or function is strictly verboten (even if his empathetic view on the matter was particularly refreshing to hear from a senior royal)." It's very much one of the moments of feeling like no royal family member ever has a win in this narrative- except for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Another major contradiction in this chapter left me wondering who edited this book. Remember how funny I thought it was in Chapter 2 that King Charles was portrayed as patiently waiting his turn? Now that's out the window. In a little aside, Scobie notes: "like Prince William today, Charles was conjuring up his reign long before it was even close to his turn."

Finally, I will include a full paragraph that answers some questions many have been asking about private correspondence between Meghan and the King. "When some details of private written correspondence between Charles and daughter-in-law Meghan appeared in the Telegraph on April 21, 2023, there were worries that the tip-off had come from within. Though fingers of blame are often pointed in the Sussex direction, this was an exchange that both parties wanted to keep confidential—letters addressing Meghan’s concerns about unconscious racial bias in the royal family in the wake of the Oprah interview. The newspaper’s vague reporting, mostly centered on the existence of the written communication, made no mention of the damning details within them, but, said a Palace insider, “there was certainly discussion amongst [the team] that it could be a warning shot from someone . . . something to shake the King up ahead of the coronation.” Though they were personal messages, some Palace aides—one of whom later left on less than amicable terms—also caught sight of the letters as they were sent and received."

This is the explanation for how personal correspondence could possibly have come out through a source other than the Duchess of Sussex. I will leave it to members to determine their own opinion on the plausibility of this explanation.

 

[Somebody]

Chapter 4- Remembrance of Things Past: The Ongoing Campaign to Make The Royals Great Again

(...)Here are the two big quotes that jumped out at me in this section:

"Prince Harry found purpose in serving his country in the military, an unquestionably honorable thing to do, but it’s worth mentioning that his time in uniform also gave his “bad-boy” tabloid image a much-needed “for the Mother Country” makeover. While Harry served, the Palace heavily leaned on the young prince’s time on the battlefield in Afghanistan for a boost of its own."

"The Firm considered it a PR win to have one of its own on the front lines. "There was a certain amount of pressure put on Harry by the institution to please the press in that situation," a source said. "It wasn’t his choice to carry out interviews, but he was told it was the right thing to do.' Thanks to those interviews, the world discovered that Harry personally killed several Taliban fighters, a revelation that made the front pages of every newspaper at the time."

Essentially, this chapter accuses the royal family of pushing Prince Harry to the frontlines for good press, forcing him to work with the papers, and thus making him reveal something that puts his security at risk to this day- a pretty strong argument to make for someone who, say, wants to justify their right to have their security costs funded. I very much believe that this chapter was mostly written to make these points.

(...)

I am pretty sure it only made the news when Harry himself made it known in Spare earlier this year... previously it was of course known that he had served in Afghanistan but not that he killed 25 Taliban fighters.

 

[kalnel]

I am born and bred in Scotland and I have never heard anyone link the name Dumbarton in the way it is being suggested, this is just nonsense and excuses for Meghan, She wanted the title of Prince for her son at birth and didn't get it. If you notice when they announced the prince and princess titles they made it clear it was their birthright, so they knew the score.

If Meghan was so sensitive to meanings in titles and names, I'm surprised she hasn't complained about being duchess of a place with "sex" in the name!

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 6- The Fall of Prince Andrew: Shame, Scandal, and Silencing Jane Doe

I will spend the least amount of time on this chapter because it has the most rehashed information. Everyone is, by now, very familiar with Prince Andrew's downfall.

These are really the only notable bits: "Charles’s reluctance [to deal with Andrew] baffled William, who didn’t have much confidence in his father to do the right thing anyway. A source close to the prince said at the time, “William [doesn’t] think his father is competent enough, quite frankly. Though they share passions and interests, their style of leadership is completely different.” This is notable because throughout the book, Charles is painted as weak on Andrew, who deserves punishment, but cruel to Harry, who does not.

Additionally, there is a lot of yearning for Prince Philip's strong and resolute hand in dealing with family matters in this chapter, in a way that makes you go "but isn't this is how William is acting that is being criticized?" just as later, there is a lot of criticism of Kate that could just as easily be praise for the Queen. No one in this narrative ever behaves within a consistent moral framework, unless it is Meghan and Harry who are consistently wonderful.

I also want to note this part, where Scobie acknowledges that part of what ensnared Andrew, was that a shady billionaire cozied up to him for clout and respectability to cover up nefarious deeds. "Andrew saw not just a mentor in Epstein—whose estate was valued at approximately $600 million—but someone who could help him make wealthy friends and influence others. It was a mutually beneficial relationship: while Andrew used Epstein for his financial connections, Epstein leveraged his connection with the prince to enjoy the trappings and clout that supplements a friendship with a senior royal."

The reason I find this notable is because Scobie has in two consecutive chapters written about the scandals that occur when the monarchy is mixed up with potentially shady sources of private funding- but it never seems to occur to him that THIS might be why Meghan and Harry's "Half In, Half Out Plan" might have been rejected, rather than cruel and short-sighted prejudice against Meghan and callousness toward Harry. He will present their plan as eminently reasonable in a later chapter.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 7- Race and the Royals: Institutional Bigotry and Denial

Opens with Princess Michael of Kent being Princess Michael of Kent and uses it to share this: "Princess Michael wasn’t alone in nonchalantly deciding the resulting outcry over her blackamoor accessory, a style first popularized in the seventeenth century, was “over the top.” The same source revealed that “some in the family rushed to comfort her afterward. They didn’t feel the [media] onslaught was fair.” Meghan, I’m told, did not receive any such overtures." A little hard to believe considering that Princess Michael of Kent has always been known as unpopular with the rest of the family, but perhaps I am wrong.

It then goes into a short history of British colonialism and the slave trade before transitioning back to the modern era.

I very much understand how complicated and nuanced this entire issue is, but I often feel like the very real issue of systemic racism gets unfairly intertwined with the family dynamic with Meghan, and I walked away from this chapter with that perspective firmly intact.

I was also very bothered by this contradiction. Scobie writes "As often as I emailed or phoned the Buckingham Palace communications team (more than weekly during the height of the BLM marches), my requests for on- or off-the-record guidance on whether we may see family members acknowledge this hugely important moment went noticeably unanswered—they responded to other queries I had, just not that one." Did Scobie not *just* acknowledge in Chapter 5 that the role of the monarch and the extended Royal Family is to be apolitical in a way that made even Charles' welcome thoughts on Rwandan refugees ahead of a Commonwealth meeting verboten? What makes that problematic but also demands a response on this? Again, trying to follow the internal logic of this book is maddening. It would be one thing if it chose an argument and stuck to it, but it contradicts itself chapter by chapter. It links this directly to the palace not standing up to the press in defense of Meghan, its only bi-racial family member. Then it acknowledges Prince Harry's own history of racial insensitivity, but not before it says: "The family’s inability to offer a head-on admission that issues to do with race still linger in the corners of the present-day institution is disingenuous, particularly after Harry spoke so candidly about his own unconscious bias in his memoir and in interviews around the book’s publication. Vile prejudices are not ancient history for the family."

 

[US Royal Watcher]

It does display an extraordinary naivete. Why on earth was he not advised strongly against writing? How could anyone think that was a good idea?

Maybe he ignored advice & just went ahead anyway. The only silver lining is that my (entirely unscientific) instinct is that most people either don't believe that The King was malicious or don't care.

I suppose ever since the Winfrey interview this was all going to come out at some point anyway. It might with a bit of luck accelerate Mr & Mrs Harry Windsor's descent into an obscure notoriety.

I think the most likely explanation is that he wasn't worried about the letter leaking, either because he didn't think Meghan would release it or if she did, he knew there was nothing damaging in the letter.

I'm not surprised that Meghan has decided to leak that Catherine wondered about which parent the baby would most favor. As someone upthread said: Catherine is living rent-free in Meghan's head.
*
HRHHermione, thank you for not only plodding through what must have been a tedious read and summarizing it for us. You have gone above and beyond.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 8- Gloves On: Prince William, Heir to the Throne

Chapter opens with description of Prince William's efforts to combat racism in sports and to promote diversity in film (after all that in the last chapter about how no one in the family is speaking out.) However, it is presented as a cynical attempt to separate himself from his father and respond to the Sussexes allegations. One can't help but feel again that every member of the royal family is damned if they do and damned if they don't, barring the Sussex couple. This is made explicit a few pages later when Scobie writes "What makes his recent civic outcries on racial issues look a tad opportunistic is the fact that he has yet to clear the air with his own brother regarding those cratering accusations of unconscious bias within the family. When the world watched Prince William proclaim “We are very much not a racist family” after the Sussex-Oprah sit-down, no one knew that, behind closed doors, some of the accusations his family was dealing with came from conversations about the Sussexes’ unborn son that he and his wife were well aware of." This again to me is an example of confusing the personal and family issues between William and Harry and Meghan and Kate and Charles and Camilla with systemic racism in a way that I think is very unfair. Scobie never seems to consider that one of the big obstacles to William or Charles communicating with Harry is the fear that any conversation about anything real will be sensationalized and sold for profit. In this world, Meghan and Harry always operate with pure motives seeking justice for themselves and their children- but no one else does. I simply do not believe that family dynamics are ever that easy.

Scobie states that Charles encouraged Harry to discuss this with the Prince and Princess of Wales but that "Two years on and neither Harry nor Meghan has received any word on the matter from William or Kate, whose reported push for a “recollections may vary”–style clause to be added to Buckingham Palace’s public response suggests the princess in particular may not agree with the Sussexes’ words." This feels suggestive again that the Sussex couple views Kate as a problem.

“The silence has caused a lot of confusion and upset,” said a source close to the family. Scobie does not at any point believe that the silence to the Sussexes is warranted or driven by fear of how conversations may be presented to the public. To me, this is unbelievable, because it seems so clear that William's childhood was deeply impacted by having private family matters play out in public. More on that later.

And then comes the intro to the most incendiary content in the book: William's reaction to the online rumors surrounding Rose Hanbury. Scobie is very careful to say that "they are just rumors until proven otherwise" but goes on to say that "anatomizing the handling of this gossip reveals how hearsay can shape and distort the future king’s story." He resurrects the Diana/Royal Train story to argue that false tabloid narratives can force family actions, blaming this particular rumor for why Charles was pressured to marry Diana. He notes that Dan Wooton was the first to allude to the Rose Hanbury rumors in The Sun, with the article about her ostensible "falling out" with Catherine. This will come back in chapter 13. Scobie reveals a conversation he had with Christian Jones, Prince William's Press Secretary. He says "I was deep in the middle of Finding Freedom, and Jones was helping with some of the information for that book. As the rumors began to spread, he called me, worried about how out of hand the gossip was getting. “Oh my God, I actually had to ask if they were true,” he said." He then notes that William was furious about being asked and made it clear that they were not. Scobie blames the acceleration of the story on Giles Corden, who he calls "A close friend of Camilla's son, Tom Parker Bowles." He claims further direct conversation with Christian Jones- "“It’s really bad isn’t it,” a worried Jones texted me."

Attempts of William's team to control this story are contrasted with stories about Meghan. "For William, there was no “take it on the chin” advice like Meghan received during her media onslaughts."

Finally, this sets up the most difficult talking point in the book, which is what I expect the headlines to reflect once newspapers work through the legalities of amplifying claims that are potentially libelous. "This was the last time the tabloid tried to cover Rose and Kate’s fallout. Too difficult, a former editor there told me. Plus, they added, “there was a nice stream of Harry and Meghan stuff coming in, so [the editors] are happy.” In fact, it was during this run of Rose stories that the Sussexes—who started their own, separate office at Buckingham Palace in the middle of the gossip run—noticed an uptick in negative or revealing stories about themselves in the Mail and The Sun."

Later, it will be explicitly argued that private information about the Sussex couple was given to the press so they would not report this story.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 9- Prince Harry "Gloves Off: Prince Harry, Man on a Mission"

Interesting, the contrast between William putting "gloves on" to represent the institution and Harry taking them off to fight against it, isn't it? It's the only chapter title with that kind of symmetry.

It opens with a fairly soft-focus description of idealistic domestic tranquility. "As the morning sun rises over Santa Barbara, bathing the steep Santa Ynez Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean sparkles with California’s trademark glow, the sprawling Sussex compound in the wealthy enclave of Montecito is already popping. With Meghan already preparing a family breakfast in the kitchen, Prince Harry is busy getting the couple’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, ready for nursery school and toddler playgroup, respectively." It goes on to give a day in the life- such hands on parents! Such devoted fitness enthusiasts! Such hard workers! And contrary to that internet piffle about Prince Harry looking miserable, he is thriving. "Spending time with Harry lifts you up,” said a friend. “He’s positive, happy, and motivating. He’s in a great place.” Scobie is awfully familiar with both their internal household routines and their emotional states for someone who keeps stating he definitely doesn't collaborate with them.

You know, there were some hurdles to get there. Understandably and completely reasonably, they had to make these massive content deals. As Scobie tells it, "Both openly admit that the journey to get here has been tough. Family relations were tested and ruptured (permanently, in some cases), some commercial deals were made in haste to secure sufficient money to guarantee their safety long into the future (and a home of their own), and the pressures of a watching world prodded them to go full throttle when it came to launching their own projects." These lead to understandable missteps- it's hard to launch a start up in the pandemic era! And no one knew Spotify was paying for headline grabbing content that would attract subscribers rather than podcasts about stuff that wouldn't! Also, they definitely considered visiting Balmoral in that final summer for the Queen, so all of that talk on the internet about how they knew she was near the end and didn't choose to visit was wrong. She was just too busy to see them plus they didn't know she was sick. "There was talk of visiting the Queen in Scotland, but her schedule, the couple was told, was already packed. Any rumors about Her Majesty possibly being in her final days had certainly not made it as far as California." They worked very hard that trip as well. "The only private time they took was a visit to Althorp, the resting place of Princess Diana. They had never been as a couple, and Harry had long wanted to bring his wife to his late mother’s grave." And for all those who wondered about who was with their kids during their nearly three weeks in the U.K.- that is addressed too. It was Doria Ragland supported by a nanny.

Then we get to the flight issues of the day and we learn that William never responded to Harry's texts and Harry was left completely alone. “It was upsetting to witness,” said a source close to the Sussexes. “[Harry] was completely by himself on this.” One wonders who was with the couple at this isolated and troubling time and therefore able to report on it.

It also insinuates again that Kate chose not to go to Balmoral but that Harry was asked not to bring Meghan. "Back on the ground, there was a tug-of-war between the Sussexes’ team and Buckingham Palace over whether to announce the news without Harry being informed." Per this account, the Palace chose the callous path and Prince Harry learned via BBC breaking news alert, but it was briefed that a call from Charles happened to cover this up. The Queen would have been disappointed in this, Scobie opines. "[Harry's] relationship with the Queen was everything to him. She would have wanted him to know before it went out to the world. 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.” The Prime Minister had been informed and it was triggering a massive logistical operation, but sure, I imagine intentionally hurting Prince Harry's feelings was the primary driving factor of decision making that day.

The walkabout is covered, and even though it was last minute and Charles forced it instead of William and Meghan had messy hair from a walk and was in sneakers and jeans, they pulled it together for the good of the nation. We are treated to this description of the car ride which has been widely reported: "Given the tension between the brothers and zero communication between Meghan and Kate, the 150-second car ride to the Long Walk felt like two hours as they muddled through light small talk." It felt like that to whom? An occupant of the car? Curious that he is so in tune with the specific emotions of the moment. Anyway. The Sussexes also didn't know there would be official media presence at this walkabout, despite official media coverage of literally every public action of the royal family that week, but Kensington Palace leaked it, as they leak everything about the Sussex couple.

I am really trying not to let my personal feelings cloud my reading, but this chapter genuinely tests that. We get to the Big Uniform Debacle. "Harry was initially told he was not permitted to wear his military uniform, despite his status as a decorated war veteran. He knew his grandmother would have wanted him to, but it took a number of emails and conversations before King Charles relented and gave special dispensation for Harry to wear his Blues and Royals, Number 1 dress attire" reports Scobie. Curiously, it is never mentioned that when the Queen was alive to adjudicate such matters at Prince Philip's funeral, she had all the men wear morning dress rather than fight for Harry's right to the uniform. And then we get to the Epaulettes Drama. Harry's were removed because he was no longer an aide de camp to the Queen, but it was definitely ALSO done to intentionally hurt his feelings, the way most matters of protocol were decided during that time. In fact, it was bullying. "Some of these people are determined to make him feel like ****, determined to continue punishing him for leaving, it’s bullying,” a family source later told me. So incensed by the way aides and Palace officials were treating him, Harry considered wearing a regular suit to the vigil that evening, but after word had come from another aide that William would remove his aiguillette to make things a little more equal, he changed his mind. It was a rare show of support from his brother and one a source said he appreciated."

Definitely a show of support and not an exasperated reaction to a temper tantrum in the middle of an incredibly demanding and exhausting week. It was also the last show of support because they were meanly brushed off and snubbed for NO REASON AT ALL for the rest of the trip and the other royal ladies were reluctant to be seen interacting with Meghan on camera again for NO REASON AT ALL and definitely not to avoid any later public information about what may or may not have been said in any conversation the cameras could capture.

And all of that sharing of personal family info? It's not selling information for profit. It's the media's lies about him that are the problem. The funeral and the stories about it are just "one of the many reasons why the Duke of Sussex is on a mission to reclaim his story, his life, and his image from the media and the public’s fantastical accounts."

I wasn’t this tired even by hour six of Netflix.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 10- The Men (and Women) in Gray

Much like the Andrew chapter, much of this is well-trod ground. I'm going to breeze through it to get to the content I think is more interesting to you all.

Opens with an explanation of Osric from Hamlet and a history of courtiers in the court of Elizabeth I. It is exactly as pretentious as you think it's going to be but it is all to make it seem very serious that Prince William and King Charles *also* have courtiers. To be honest, this chapter feels like he read an Amazon review of "Courtiers" by Valentine Low and cribbed as much as he could to get to the part where he affirms Prince Harry's descriptions in "Spare" of Edward Young, Clive Alderton and Simon Case as buzzy, gross little insects.

This is to make a serious point. "Harry’s contention is that Young abused his gatekeeping power, gaslighting him when it came to passing along important messages about his lawsuits against the media, and then prohibiting access to his grandmother when Harry needed her the most, all under the guise of “protecting the sovereign.” It definitely isn't because Harry's grandmother also cared very much about protecting the institution. This is where we get the description of the Half In Half Out plan as something totally reasonable. "On the agenda at the January 13, 2020, gathering was whether Harry and Meghan would be granted the “half in, half out” working model they pitched (keep their security, perform royal work to support the Queen, and fund their own charitable projects with commercial endeavors)." Implication is that the Queen would have said yes if Young hadn't manipulated her. Also, it was their CHARITABLE endeavors they were going to support with their commercial endeavors and definitely not something for personal enrichment. Nothing about how they would meet their living expenses in that description, but ok.

Then there's some random stuff that Scobie definitely could have checked facts on? They blame Young for delays in Meghan being given patronages, saying "Critics pointed to the fact that when Meghan first joined the family, Young was slow to help find patronages and active roles for the newly minted Duchess of Sussex. Sources say he “dithered” for eight months before nudging Queen Elizabeth II to appoint Meghan as the royal patron for the National Theatre, a no-brainer considering her years as an actress. This initial failure to help Meghan create a suitable lane as a working royal ushered in a pack of problems for the Sussexes, who ended up taking matters into their own hands when it came to carving out their roles (and we all know how that ended)." I actually went and checked because I couldn't remember- but sure enough, it took eight months after Catherine joined the family for her to announce patronages too, and none of those required the Queen stepping down as patron and giving over the honor. It's almost like this stuff takes time even if you are the daughter in law everyone likes.

Last point I thought was interesting- everyone as a courtier is smeared as "institutionalized" except for Samantha Cohen. "In 2019, Cohen was ready to continue her journey elsewhere. A royal source said that Cohen was fond of Harry and Meghan but found the pair “a bit like teenagers” at times. The Sussexes attempted to keep her on but, seeing the stormy seas ahead, the senior aide felt like it was the right time go."

This is a *very* sanitized and friendly version of what has been reported about how the couple interacted with Samantha Cohen by Valentine Low and Tom Bower- who both say it was far more contentious.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 11- Ghost at the Feast: Princess Diana and Revisionist History

This chapter starts out with something I found pretty revolting. Despite the findings of the Operation Paget report that conspiracy theories surrounding Diana's death were unfounded, Scobie repeats that the driver was blinded by a major white flash from paparazzi as he entered the tunnel. Scobie entirely dismisses both the fact that the driver was drunk and that there was a dip in the road that he encountered at speed as relevant, and repeats Prince Harry's belief that the crash was caused by the media. He repeats without question Prince Harry's declaration in "Spare" that both brothers dismiss the conclusions of the Paget report, despite the fact that William has not shared that opinion publicly. Scobie doesn't seem to see anything wrong with Prince Harry sharing with the world that he and William had driven through the tunnel together, or recognize how making something that private public fodder might be deeply hurtful.

It compares Diana to breeding stock, stating "Just as the Queen selected her thoroughbred racing horses, the Firm chose Diana for her pedigree and her usefulness." which I think is really a very cynically influenced perspective on something much more complicated.

The point of this chapter is another cruel one. It talks about the Morton book and the Bashir interview as Diana reclaiming her narrative and treats both as the undisputed truth about her life that she had no regrets about giving… and then it talks about William's support of having the BBC withdraw the Panorama interview as an attempt to silence her to history on behalf of the institution. It completely glosses over Bashir's falsifying of information to get her to agree to the interview and dismisses entirely the idea that this influenced the content in any way- something that William and Harry disagree strongly on, as we have seen from William's public statements on Bashir's conduct vs. Harry's use of the interview in his Netflix series. Perhaps most harmfully, it does not grapple with how this influenced Diana's decisions to give up police protection- which truly was a factor in her death.

This chapter's main takeaway is that William is trying to silence Diana's voice and dilute her memory on behalf of The Firm while Harry is trying to keep it alive as someone who understands that women who marry into the family matter as people. It is pretty horrible to read.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 12: Skilled Survivors: Camilla and Kate, Windsor Women. This chapter is broken into two parts and requires two posts. I would title it "Told you the misogyny would be coming" Also, forgive my exasperation as I approach the end of this slog. We only have this one and two more to go.

Part I: Camilla: The Transformation of a Mistress (Yes, really, that is what Scobie titled Camilla's chapter)

With a title like that, the chapter is *exactly* what you expect. Scobie looks at the 76 year old queen and chooses to resurrect every single tabloid rumor that has ever existed about her sex life. One would think that maybe a good friend fluent in the language of feminism might have explained that this is what the kids would call "slut-shaming" but I may not understand the progressive nature of declaring that the Queen was known as “raunchy and randy” and the sort to “throw her knickers on the table." She lived in the 1960s and while she wasn't progressive politically, she loved the sexual freedom part. Has Scobie mentioned yet that the Queen enjoys sex? He will again. But not before mentioning that her Great-Grandmother, Alice Keppel was "King Edward VII’s favorite highborn mistress and illicit plaything of twelve years." Yes, he called a woman an "illicit plaything." Probably, I do not understand how this is really progressive. You know, there's an old rumor that a police guard saw Prince Charles and Camilla doing the thing "Lady Chatterly loved best" outside in a garden, but probably it is just a rumor which is why it was important to include in a very serious royal biography.

Also did you know that both the Queen and the King had children and were married to other people once? "The two marriages engendered two sets of children, but the extramarital romance produced splintered families and, as can now be said with confidence, broke the hearts of those very same children." Oddly, I do not recall three of those four children putting it in those terms to the public.

Also, they conducted an affair! While Charles was married to Diana. I am sure this is news to us all. What was news to me was that they were able to successfully carry on this affair because "Highgrove is only a fifteen-minute drive from Camilla’s beloved Ray Mill House, an almost Proustian re-creation of her childhood haven in Sussex that she still uses to this day. Their pastoral conniving involved others from their inner sanctum who opened up the doors to their own country manors for Charles and Camilla’s trysts when Ray Mill or Highgrove wasn’t an option." Odd, I thought she bought Ray Mill in 1995 after Prince Charles and Diana were separated. Well, live and learn from a royal biographer and crackerjack reporter, I suppose. This definitely gives me confidence this book was fact checked by someone.

Camilla also loves reporters and talks to tabloids a lot and they love her because she is nice to them even though they are the press. Also she likes sex. But Scobie wants you to know- Prince Harry holds no animosity towards her.

This has been Camilla's chapter.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 12 Part II: Kate: Suddenly Front and Center

Kate does not like public speaking. It makes her nervous and she mumbles. This is why she prefers outings that "involved interacting with children or sporting activities, where it’s more about her actions than her words." Probably this sounds reasonable. It is not.

Kate has a small work load. This is because she has children and her real duty was to produce an heir and a spare. The entire institution is very obsessed with the production of heirs and spares. It's all heirs and spares all the time. It defines everything.

Sometimes, she gets so nervous that her husband William has to check in on her by text to make sure she is doing ok, especially before she does her first interview with Blue Peter. Don't worry, she was worried for nothing and it was fine. She might be willing to do an interview again! Scobie writes "Given that Kate was in a public-facing role for eight years up to this point, the journey to this breakthrough took longer than anyone expected. Still, progress is progress."

She was slow to start her early years project and maybe if she had advocated for it sooner, the government would never have cut funding to the program the Labour party introduced in 1999 when she was 17 years old. But remember- the royal family is not supposed to be political.

The media focus on what Kate wears rather than what she does "to such an extent that often what she says and does is usually an afterthought. Compared to other royals, mainstream coverage of Kate in the British papers is overwhelmingly positive, often bordering on infantilizing the princess, with articles marveling at her ability to perform the simplest of tasks (think enthusiastic reporting about kicking a soccer ball or flipping a pancake, or how amazing it is that she can assume the perfect “princess pose” in photographs)."

You know, she's boring, but they don't even criticize her when they conceivably could if she didn't build up so much good will by being boring.

This is not like Meghan, who was also a "shiny thing" for the monarchy. But the difference is that "[Meghan's] outgoing nature and leadership potential, qualities for which Kate isn’t known, early coverage of Meghan’s royal engagements were far less about fashion choices and more about her work or her role in the Firm. Until they weren’t."

Meghan was wonderful at being a working royal. "With her acting experience and upbeat demeanor, Meghan was supremely comfortable in her public-facing role, even when she initially knew very little about it." The palace found this intimidating and obnoxious.

I really need to include all the gushing description, don't I? "Before it all went wrong, the Firm’s American outsider and underdog was becoming the star of the show. Whether it was guest-editing an entire September issue of British Vogue while heavily pregnant, releasing a bestselling book for charity, or collaborating with British fashion brands to launch a capsule collection to raise money for her patronage of the women’s employment coaching charity Smart Works, Meghan got things done fast. It was Princess Diana all over again."

It is news to me that Princess Diana did all that within the first few years of her role. Silly me, I thought she was once called "Shy Di" and known for being a bit awkward and that this is part of why the public liked her so much. I must have got my facts wrong.

Back to Kate. Being all scared of being a royal and being very afraid of talking and unable to take leadership, it looked like she would be very dull compared to the new, more modern-looking royal the world was seeing in its new star. So Kate took a lesson. She even started dressing more like Meghan, "Slowly transform [ing] into the more relaxed, business-casual attire chosen by the California duchess."

Despite Kate's general shy, dull nature, Meghan really hoped they could bond, but Kate is cold when she doesn't like someone and she didn't like Meghan. She didn't like her right from the start. "She spent more time talking about Meghan than talking to her."There are no rational reasons given for this, so we are left to speculate about what prejudices might drive it.

Also, did you know Kate says she supports mental health treatment but also ignored her own sister-in-law's cries for help? Seems out of character for someone who should be available for all of this and definitely didn't have three young kids and a brother going through major mental health struggles requiring family support at the same time.

Kate watched in silence as the press wrote lies about Meghan. Kate has no idea what that feels like and probably has never had to stay silent as the press wrote harmful lies about her.

Now Meghan is gone, and the "sometimes Stepford-like royal wife" (get it, she's like a fembot) now looks more assured and confident. She sure has benefited from Meghan being gone, hasn't she? She even released a photography book during the pandemic that was "reminiscent of Meghan’s 2018 Together cookbook in aid of the Grenfell survivors of London’s Hubb Community Kitchen" in that they are both books.

Kate got married in 2011. Remember how she's like a Stepford fembot? That's because "In many ways this is where Kate’s personal story comes to an end: she traded in Carole’s training for the Palace playbook, and the young woman disappeared behind a Palace-constructed mold." In fact, she has no inner life at all anymore because she has been "Transfigured by her new role and completely dedicated to indiscriminately supporting William, Kate—with institutional assistance—successfully sublimated her authentic self, becoming an enigma to the public and perhaps even to herself." She doesn't even know herself anymore. And she doesn't care what her husband does, because her job is to support him without even thinking about what she's supporting and why.

You'll be happy to know that Scobie believes that sometimes, "The misogynistic and snobbish way many of the tabloids wrote about Kate was reprehensible." After reading this chapter, I trust we will all be very assured of his consternation on her behalf.

 

[biru]

Thank you HRHHermione! Well, the recollections may vary indeed.

I wonder about the Dutch translation, where Omid mention the royal names who made remarks about Archie. Is it really a translation error? I don't think so...

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 13: A Dangerous Game: Royals and the Media

This chapter rehashes a lot, but it comes back to the most incendiary points Scobie introduced in Prince William's chapter, chapter 8.

First, it describes how the royal rota works and how it is like a cartel. This is exactly how Prince Harry describes them. They would not let Omid Scobie be a member because he represents an American outlet and would only share briefing notes with him as long as he wasn't writing opinions they didn't like. Rebecca English in particular is bossy and exclusionary, but Valentine Low is kind of ok. Did Scobie mention he had "strong access to the couple's world" when Meghan arrived on scene? Because he did, and that's why they excluded him.

And now we get to the purpose of this chapter. First, Scobie claims that the culture of "leaking and briefing" was "especially poisonous when it comes to Harry and Meghan." In fact, "Some of the staff I have spoken to in the past and for this book said the couple was an easy target because they believed other family members were jealous of their unrivaled popularity at the
time, while two others shrugged and said that was “just how it goes.” This is more reinforcement of the point that Harry and Meghan were wildly successful and would have remained that way had the rest of the family not been so jealous. This is what Harry and Meghan allude to in both their Neflix series and "Spare" as well.

There are a lot of allegations in this chapter and if there is one chapter people should seek out to read on their own so that they can draw their own conclusions, it's this one. The big one is this: Scobie alleges that Christian Jones, Prince William's press secretary, pressured him to give information from "Finding Freedom" on the Sussexes to Dan Wooton at The Sun to stop him pursuing the story about Prince William and Rose Hanbury. When Scobie refused, he says "It was soon clear my book was not the only carrot Jones would dangle in front of his pal at The Sun. In late June the paper suddenly pulled reporters off the hunt and then dropped digs into the story entirely. “Christian helped make it end,” one high-level courtier told me. Curiously, Wootton and the paper—which does not have a reputation for giving up on potential scoops—shifted their focus to a series of revealing stories about the Sussexes. For Prince Harry and some other Palace staff, including one who was confiding in me at the time, the timing of this shift was dubious. And those suspicions reached fever pitch when, a year later, a report was published by a grassroots news outlet run by a team of media lawyers and former Fleet Street journalists that focuses on the activities of Britain’s newspapers. Strict U.K. laws prevent me from repeating the details contained within it."

My opinion is that this is the main argument Scobie wanted to make with this book.

Other item of note in this chapter: that story about Prince Harry taking drugs as a teenager where he claims he was thrown to the tabloids to make Charles look like a good father? Well "the story failed to mention that this rebellious time in his life was partly the result of Charles leaving him alone at his country mansion for a majority of the summer in 2002. “This was a child that needed guidance, that needed a parent, and [Charles] was too busy and involved with other things to notice,” said a family friend." For context, Prince Harry was 17 years old that summer and in his final year of Eton. I am the same age as him, and my parents left me alone for a few weeks at the same age given that I could drive and had a part-time job by that time, as many people do.

 

[biru]

Also, did you know Kate says she supports mental health treatment but also ignored her own sister-in-law's cries for help? Seems out of character for someone who should be available for all of this and definitely didn't have three young kids and a brother going through major mental health struggles requiring family support at the same time.

Wow, just wow!

Catherine was pregnant with Louis before Harry and Meghan's wedding, and I recall she was having an awful morning sickness in her early pregnancy, something called hyperemesis gravidarum if I'm not mistaken (she had the same symptoms when she was pregnant with George and Charlotte as well). She was also busy with an infant baby and 2 very young children then. Meghan obviously knew that, so why didn't she ask her own husband to help her for her mental health issue? It's like Oprah 2.0 all over again.

 

[HRHHermione]

Chapter 14: The Decay of Years: The Fading Glory of the Crown and the conclusion which is just titled "Endgame"

I am growing tired and I imagine you all are too! Luckily, this is my last post and all the big stuff was in Chapters 8,9, 12 and 13.

This book looks back on the King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and the end of the empire. It concludes that while the Queen had value, Charles doesn't command the same level of respect and this is why anti-monarchy protests are rising and his first Trooping the Color wasn't as crowded as normal years. It argues that Britain is fading as a country, and because "the royal family has so deftly—and expediently in recent years—merged itself with national identity and the “Land of Hope and Glory” instincts, when the nation’s status wanes, so, too, does theirs." I actually disagree and think the continuity of the monarchy helps get the country through some really tough times.

It says that Charles has promised to slim down the monarchy but says that "a look at the Court Circular (the official record of past royal engagements) shows that the lesser-known Duke and Duchess of Kent, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Princess Alexandra have all been carrying out dozens of official engagements since Charles took charge." It does not acknowledge that all of these individuals are aging and will therefore slow down naturally. I also suspect our resident royal engagement numbers expert (hello, Iluvbertie) will be fascinated to learn that the Duchess of Kent is performing dozens of official engagements since Charles became King. Again, someone definitely fact checked this book.

According to Scobie, "Just five years ago, the thought of the Windsors becoming equal citizens without privileged status seemed unreal to most, but now that future doesn’t seem as far-fetched. Harry and Meghan have already fled to real life, and, by the looks of it, they’re not hurting for either money or status." He argues that this makes it more likely the rest of the family could one day be regular citizens and talks about what he believes is the inevitable birth of a British republic, though he acknowledges it's probably a long way off. He thinks the numbers on the popularity of the monarchy are misleading, and that people not wanting to abolish it outright doesn't mean they love it. He says "Keeping something doesn’t always mean you love it. That’s why attics and garages are full of stuff we want to hold on to but don’t value enough to use or display."

He makes some incredibly misleading claims about what the royal family contributes to British tourism by saying "Staunch royalists will say the royal family are the country’s biggest attraction, but a closer look at statistics available from Britain’s Association of Leading Visitor Attractions reveals that it’s the country’s heritage sites such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London that consistently feature at the top of London’s most-visited attractions. And while Windsor Great Park might be a popular destination, royal residences such as Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and Windsor Castle have yet to feature in their annual top ten lists. To put it comparatively, Britain’s average tourism revenue pre-Covid was £127 billion and royal tourism accounted for approximately £500 million of it—0.3 percent of that number." I don't know about you all, but I suspect that at least a fraction of the visitors to St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London are there partially because of the monarchy.

This part also does directly say that King George III was forced to abdicate in 1820 and that's when George IV assumed the throne. Those fact checkers are just killing it. The reference is made because he compares the King to "Prinny" a few times and believes King Charles will also have a short and inauspicious reign.

More specious financial arguments and finally we are to the conclusion: The monarchy is in endgame. They may not survive.

Looking forward to chatting with you all and if anyone else reads it, I look forward to your own commentary!

 

[Asteria12]

Your posts are excellent and it must have been an incredibly odious job to do but we thank you HRHHermione!

 

[Leopoldine]

Thank you HRHHermione! I enjoyed reading your posts. You've done a great job.

 

[Princess Merena]

What a sickening read that was. Thank you so much HRHHermione for suffering through that!

It's crazy how certain people claim to lead with kindness and empathy while allowing things like this to be written because let's face it, it's clear as a day that the Sussex couple have co-operated with this book. How else would anybody know some of these details unless they talk completely open to anybody within an earshot of everything that has happened.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Thanks for that - saved me the time and money.

Love the bit about the Duchess of Kent doing 'dozens' of engagements. I know that there is some 'new maths' running around but 1 engagement since Eugenie's wedding isn't 'dozens' to me but I am a 'boomer' so maybe what I was taught in the 60s isn't what [Scobie] was taught.

 

[Lee-Z]

Chapter 11- Ghost at the Feast: Princess Diana and Revisionist History

.....

This chapter's main takeaway is that William is trying to silence Diana's voice and dilute her memory on behalf of The Firm while Harry is trying to keep it alive as someone who understands that women who marry into the family matter as people. It is pretty horrible to read.

Thank you HRHHermione for taking the time to read this book and share with us i probably would have given up reading after half a chapter

Even with everything else being stated in the book, the above quote alone would, if i were William and if Harry ever even alluded as much to someone, be enough to not make any more 'first steps' towards Harry ever.
For someone (Harry) who is so busy with how traumatizing it is to loose a mother, he sure doesn't seem open to the idea that losing a mother may be difficult to others (particularly his own relatives) (and that includes how he seems to have behaved at the Queen's passing, making life difficult for his relatives because he felt treated wrong)

 

[Lee-Z]

Dutch media now too reports about the book and that a revised version will be available on december 8th
google translated
https://www-nu-nl.translate.goog/cu..._sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

"Scobie stated in RTL Boulevard that he never mentioned a name and that a translation error may have been made. The publisher calls this "a special comment" but is currently investigating what exactly could have gone wrong. "

i have to chuckle at Mr.Scobie's comment, because even with google translate and not editing the result, it doesn't add random names to a text if they aren't in the original.
(it could possibly translate names, like for a woman's name 'Marina' which Google Translate tends to translate as 'seascape', but adding something randomly? no..)

It's very likely that the names were in the book and pulled at the last minute

Cynical me:
maybe they were pulled because they were supposed to be kept for a grand reveal in another one of H or M's own books/podcasts etc

 

[Princess Merena]

I'd say this was intentional in a way that the names are now out there without him having to had written them in the English version of his book.

I simply don't believe that Catherine or Charles have a racist bone in their body. Most likely they were musing about how H&M's future babies might look like as any other family might.

 

[shady lady]

HRH Hermione, I am reading through your posts now. Thank you so much for your hard work and the time you have sacrificed to read this book; it is very much appreciated!

 

[LadyJaneGrey]

Thanks for reading and posting chapter summaries HRHHermione. I'm a bit baffled by the factual inaccuracies. I can sort of (ok not really) understand a reporter not paying that much attention to the Duchess of Kent's engagement numbers but George III abdicating? Baffling. Does Scobie not have access to Wikipedia at the very least? And is he not worried that these obvious errors call into question the factual accuracy of some of the more controversial information? Baffling.

 

[Mbruno]

Thank you, HRH Hermione, for your summary and review of End Game, especially as I personally don't plan to buy or read it.

Judging from your report, I honestly don't see what Harry and Meghan can possibly think they will accomplish with this book other than advertising to the entire world, including those they hope to go into business with in Hollywood, that they are at best a toxic couple that cannot be trusted with private or confidential information and has no compassion or empathy at all, or at worst, that they are delusional people with a clinical detachment from reality.

I apologize if I assume that the Sussexes are the real voice behind Scobie's words, but it is objectively impossible not to infer that given the reported content of the book.

 

[Asteria12]

I think I joked in this thread or the Sussex thread that WME will be working hard once this book came out, but oh boy...!