The knives are out for Prince William and Kate

Omid Scobie’s Endgame is now available from a bookshop near you, and no doubt republicans and admirers of Harry and Meghan alike will be flocking to buy it on the day of release, gleeful to soak up the revelations about the Royal Family. For the rest of us, the appeal is less clear. The book’s tawdry and scandalous provocations have been extensively trailed in the press over the past few days and, as I wrote yesterday, its most attention-grabbing suggestions are hardly newsworthy or particularly surprising, which means that, like Spare, this book is likely to meet with vast initial sales and will then dwindle into obscurity before very long.

One area, however, that is relatively new is its full-frontal attack on the Prince of Wales and, to a slightly lesser extent, his wife. Prince William emerges spectacularly badly in Endgame, with Scobie suggesting that he is trapped in ‘an increasing struggle’ for power with his father, who the Prince views as yesterday’s man.

One of Scobie’s suspiciously useful sources is quoted as saying, ‘William [doesn’t] think his father is competent enough, quite frankly. Though they share passions and interests, their style of leadership is completely different.’

Just as it was rumoured that the King spent decades waiting for his mother to relinquish the throne, so the same is now being said of his son. Another courtier is said to remark, ‘William, or his staff, I should say, will always be quick to play up his efforts. There is an almost frenzied push for William to be seen as ready for the throne, despite an entire generation coming beforehand.’

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Alexander Larman

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Certainly, there is some truth in the tension between the idealised media presentation of the Prince and Princess as the perfect family unit – smiling, dutiful, unthreatening – and some of the characteristics of William that are coming into public view.

Even if the story about his physical punch-up with his younger brother in Spare is false or exaggerated, those around the Prince admit that he possesses the notorious ‘Windsor temper’ and that he can exhibit unbecoming pettiness or malice. Some would suggest that his unyielding refusal to reconcile with his younger brother – when his father is prepared to do so – is admirable and principled; others, the action of a prig. You do not have to believe the scurrilous – and unfounded – rumours around William’s private life to suggest that the old adage of he is who without sin being in a position to cast the first stone is all too appropriate here.

The treatment of his wife, however, seems more malicious, and guided by personal dislike from the Meghan camp. (The book ‘reveals’ that the two have barely been on speaking terms since 2019; Kate’s amused expressions during Harry and Meghan’s bombastic wedding service, which went viral, could not have helped with this.) She is demeaned as ‘Katie Keen’, a Stepford Wife who is cruelly described as ‘coachable’ – in explicit contrast to Princess Diana and implicitly to Meghan. Yet Kate is also accused of shirking her responsibilities when it comes to royal engagements, performing a mere hundred or so a year, as opposed to the late Queen’s 300.

There may be some truth in this. Certainly, compared to Prince Philip and Camilla, to say nothing of Diana, she is a much less distinctive figure, someone who could have been precision-moulded by royal courtiers not to cause controversy. Yet few would seek to criticise her personally for this, although Scobie, naturally, has a go, writing that ‘she can be cold if she doesn’t like someone.’ Most would concede that this was a normal human trait, but if you are a member of ‘the Firm’ you are not allowed such indulgences.

Were the Prince and Princess of Wales so minded, there is probably enough in Endgame for them to sue Scobie for libel. Yet it seems unlikely that, unlike his ever-litigious younger brother, William will wish to get involved in an embarrassingly public court case.

Instead, he will undoubtedly seethe at the half-baked stories in the book, which may or may not become part of the public myth about him. But in terms of causing permanent reputational damage, it seems unlikely that this soon-to-be-forgotten book will do anything other than excite gossip between now and Christmas, which will then be swept away again when some actual news comes to the fore.