King Charles' Next Crisis

Prince William's rivalry is sending the British monarchy into a 'very long and cold winter,' royal author Omid Scobie says

- JACK ROYSTON

IT IS A STORY OF PETTY RIVALries, scurrilous gossip, and clashing egos. Yet the author of the latest book to delve into the soap opera of the British royal family insists he has a serious point to make.

King Charles III's monarchy is being dragged down by "selfish agendas" that have blocked Prince William from supporting his father, Omid Scobie tells Newsweek-a development that he says is putting the entire institution at risk.

Scobie's new book Endgame, published on November 28, reignited public interest in the transatlantic feud between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the wider royal family, with revelations including an account of how there were two people involved in the now-infamous conversation about her baby's skin tone.

Elsewhere, King Charles is quoted describing Harry as "that fool" to aides after the Duke of Sussex's Netflix show drowned out coverage of his father's work, while William and Kate Middleton were said to have found a South Park roast of Harry and Meghan "hilarious."

However, these family rifts should not overshadow the real message of the book, Scobie says.

The author, whose first book, Finding Freedom, sent shock waves through the world of royal reporting, believes the monarchy must change to survive and that it is William rather than Harry who poses the real risk to the king.

"Despite being fed those lines or the briefings about father and son working in lockstep with one another," Scobie says, "we've seen father and son on completely different paths at times, with completely different views on things and we haven't seen them together on engagements.

"You know, we've heard William, and people around him, briefing the papers already about how he'll do things differently. When it was three days after the coronation, it was like 'William's [monarchy] will be different, his will be modern, his will be leaner, his will be more cost-effective.'