Prince William‘s struggles with Prince Harry are nothing new, but royal expert Omid Scobie claims the Prince of Wales also isn’t on the same page as King Charles III.
In excerpts from his new book, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, and an interview with London’s The Times published on Saturday, November 25, Scobie declared that William, 41, is in “heir mode,” which furthers the divide between himself and his father. William “knows his father’s reign is only transitional … and is acting accordingly,” Scobie wrote.
Charles, 75, took the throne after Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 in September 2022. He celebrated his coronation in May with both William and Harry, 39, present for the ceremony. (The Duke of Sussex left London as soon as the ceremony concluded, heading back to California to celebrate son Archie’s birthday with wife Meghan Markle.)
Throughout the first year of Charles’ reign, Scobie claims the two have grown further apart.
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“It would have been nice to see them come together on certain projects perhaps in the early years, to put on that united front, but they’re all working in silos,” Scobie told The Times.
Other experts, like Christopher Andersen, have claimed the opposite. “They’ve had to put up this united front against Harry and Meghan,” Andersen exclusively told Us Weekly of Charles and William in July. “They’ve been insulted by members of their own family. It’s been quite the ordeal for them, and I think that they kind of circled the wagon, so to speak. And they’ve come out of that with a stronger bond.”
However, according to Scobie, the men generally don’t see eye to eye. Among their differences is how they deal with Harry.
In their bombshell CBS interview in March 2021, Meghan and Harry alleged that a member of the royal family raised concerns about the color of Archie’s skin before he was born. Charles spoke to the couple and they came to an understanding that the incident wouldn’t be mentioned in Harry’s book, Spare, or the Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
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Following their shocking step away from their senior royal duties in March 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have distanced themselves from their relatives across the pond. Nearly one year after their initial step away, Buckingham Palace confirmed in February 2021 that Harry and the Suits alum were not going to return as working royals. […]
“The fact that [Charles] engaged in a conversation about it shows a lot more of a willingness to take some of these issues on than Prince William, for example, who has completely avoided talking to his brother whatsoever,” Scobie added.
The author further alleged that “hot-headed” William is “increasingly comfortable with the Palace’s dirty tricks and the courtiers who dream them up” and has used his aides and allies in the U.K. press paint a negative picture of Harry over the years.
“The side of it that a lot of people don’t know, or within our industry have known but chosen not to report, is just how involved William has been in many of the things that have gone out about his own brother,” Scobie claimed.
Previous excerpts from Endgame revealed a source told Scobie that William is allegedly “convinced” that Harry has been “brainwashed” by an “‘army of therapists’” and therefore William says he “no longer even recognizes” his brother.
Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival will be released on Tuesday, November 28.
