Beyond Repair

IN THE BOMBSHELL NEW BOOK ENDGAME, AUTHOR OMID SCOBIE REVEALS THE DEPTH OF THE DAMAGE BETWEEN THE ROYAL BROTHERSAND WHY THEIR BROKEN BOND IS A THREAT TO THE MONARCHY'S FUTURE 

- MICHELLE TAUBER

When Prince Harry laid bare the painful rift between himself and his family in the pages of his memoir Spare, the world learned the extent of the division between Harry, 39, and his brother Prince William, 41. But nearly a year after Spare’s publication, “absolutely nothing has changed,” says author Omid Scobie, who has covered the royal family for more than a decade. In fact, the hurt and anger between the two brothers—one the Prince of Wales and future King, the other the Duke of Sussex and Californian—have now hardened into something colder and more immovable, says Scobie: indifference. “I saw Harry’s release of Spare as his last attempt at telling his family how he’s felt for years,” says Scobie, whose new book Endgame chronicles both the breakdown of the royal family and the weakening of the modern monarchy. “Because clearly there’s never been an open enough forum to have these conversations or share these feelings.”

The royal family, of course, is not known for its focus on feelings. But in Endgame Scobie writes that perhaps more than at any other point in history, the family is ignoring its internal fractures at its own peril, because “part of the buy-in from the [British] public is that the royal family is the nation’s family.” And yet, Scobie says, heir-to-the-throne William has prioritized his loyalty to the monarchy, even quietly cooperating with the U.K. press to undermine Harry. (Kensington Palace had no comment when reached by People about the allegations.)