Omid Scobie has a new interview with Everything Zoomer to promote Endgame. His Endgame promotion has fallen off a cliff, but I guess that’s just how books are promoted nowadays: everything is built into the first week for a promotional blitz, then nothing. While there’s no huge news in this piece, Scobie does have some interesting observations about the changes Prince William has made in the past decade. He also doubles-down on the fact that the monarchy’s utter mishandling of the Duchess of Sussex was the beginning of the end(game). Some highlights from this piece:
Anonymous sources: “It’s tough when the de facto method of reporting on the Royal beat is through anonymous sources. I’d be a hypocrite to say we shouldn’t rely on that, because there’s often no other way to get information out there. Sometimes the most frustrating thing about covering this family is that I can’t put a name to a source quote, because if I could, it would carry so much more weight. If I could use a name, the reader could consider and measure their biases.”
William directly deals with journalists these days: “It’s important to show it, to get into the details and the weeds to help people understand how media at the palace works. Prince William was once a man who hated the press – much more than Harry, who used to be a real suck-up to the press. I remember thinking, “They terrorize you, they terrorized your mom, and you’re trying to win over the editor of the Daily Mail even though you know they’re gonna stick it to you tomorrow.” It was a bit tragic. William, maybe because his role was more defined, couldn’t stand the press and didn’t engage. So, how sad it’s been to see William in recent years become deeply embedded in the press’s typical methods and techniques. If you see a headline or rumour appear and disappear, know that some bargaining or interaction has happened behind the scenes.
The journalists’ bargain: “It’s always this dance, because you always want to keep a relationship in a decent place. You want to be included in press briefings, you want a heads-up on info before the rest of the world, you want to be invited on tours and private receptions so you can chat with Royals. But the front row seat is wasted because you’re expected to not reveal the most revealing things, if that makes sense. I wanted to shine a light on this dark shadowing place, even if the cost of it is I’m completely cut off for good.
He did leave out some gossip: “There are a few things that I don’t like to give oxygen to. I’ve been victim to online gossip, too, and it’s not nice. There are times when I discuss the rumours themselves – the fallout with Rose Hanbury, allegedly, for example – but I don’t spend a second talking about whether it’s true or not, because in my mind, unless you can come to me with evidence, it’s B.S. If there’s evidence, it goes in the book. If there isn’t, it stays in my notes. Everything about that [Hanbury story] appears to be nonsense. I discuss it in the book, but in the context of how it was presented to the public through a national tabloid. I wanted to analyze how those rumours were dealt with behind the scenes, without giving any credence to something that probably isn’t true. In this world, you need to be able to show and tell.
The monarchy had the moment to show us they had modernized, but they failed spectacularly. “I know, I know. A lot of people have asked me about why this book’s called Endgame, if it’s because I think this is the end of the Royal family as we know it. I do think we’re at a pinnacle moment, based on many things, but the moment Meghan entered the picture could have changed the course of things in a different direction. It didn’t, so to me the endgame started there.
William has changed: “I wouldn’t say my mind has been changed, but the Royal whom I’ve seen the most change in is William, which has perhaps transformed my opinions along the way. I always thought William was the most fun member of the family – he was smart, good at his job, he understood the presence of the press despite hating them. He’d occasionally have these moments of banter where he’d let you in. I’ve since seen a hardening of character, a kind of leaning into his role. Whereas once he’d never let the media come between him and his family, particularly his brother, now he is himself involved in the media’s plots and scenes. I still think he has great potential as a monarch, but I don’t know how happy he is. People who work with him describe him as someone you have to test the weather with before you speak. Will he be in a good mood or a bad mood?”
On ‘The Crown’: I’ll admit I haven’t seen much of the new season. I have a little bit of fatigue on the subject right now. I enjoyed the previous seasons and I find the rush to dismiss anything in it that they don’t like rather entertaining. Obviously it’s fiction and the dialogue is right from a writer’s room, but the response from the institution is usually pretty telling. Whether they like it or not, The Crown has become the biggest pop-culture reference to the royal family of our time.
“But the front row seat is wasted because you’re expected to not reveal the most revealing things” is a very accurate summary of the royal reporter’s dilemma. What’s crazy is that it’s not actually a dilemma to any of them (except Scobie) – all of them have chosen access journalism and palace stenography over actual journalism. Whenever Kensington Palace freaks out and goes on a briefing spree, why not report it that way – that KP “sources” are openly briefing about the Sussexes, as opposed to just printing whatever unhinged sh-t comes out of the courtier’s mouth? Also: I think the palace response to The Crown is always telling, and the palace freakouts about the Crown are incredibly amusing. There have been moments when you can see years/decades of careful palace PR completely dismantled over the course of one episode.
Note by CB: Get the Top 10 stories from Omid Scobie’s Endgame when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Scobie’s IG.
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- HRH, The Duke of Cambridge attends The Sun who Cares Wins Awards at The Roundhouse , London on Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2021 .,Image: 632153186, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Julie Edwards. Local copyright law applies to all print & online usage. NUJ newspaper space rates apply. Magazines please call for rates. Flat 1, 15 Graham Road. Worthing. BN11 1TL. +44 (0)7961 790520, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
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- HRH, The Duke of Cambridge attends The Sun who Cares Wins Awards at The Roundhouse , London on Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2021 .,Image: 632153188, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Julie Edwards. Local copyright law applies to all print & online usage. NUJ newspaper space rates apply. Magazines please call for rates. Flat 1, 15 Graham Road. Worthing. BN11 1TL. +44 (0)7961 790520, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
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- HRH, The Duke of Cambridge attends The Sun who Cares Wins Awards at The Roundhouse , London on Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2021 .,Image: 632153190, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Julie Edwards. Local copyright law applies to all print & online usage. NUJ newspaper space rates apply. Magazines please call for rates. Flat 1, 15 Graham Road. Worthing. BN11 1TL. +44 (0)7961 790520, Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
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- Catherine Duchess Of Cambridge And Prince William At The Out-Sourcing Inc Charity Polo Match The Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge at in the Out-Sourcing Inc charity polo match at Guards Polo Club, Smiths Lawn, Windsor. The match is to raise funds and awareness for ten charities supported by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Featuring: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 06 Jul 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images
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- Catherine Duchess Of Cambridge And Prince William At The Out-Sourcing Inc Charity Polo Match The Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge at in the Out-Sourcing Inc charity polo match at Guards Polo Club, Smiths Lawn, Windsor. The match is to raise funds and awareness for ten charities supported by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Featuring: Prince William Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 06 Jul 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images
He lost me at “William was fun and smart and did his job”. I don’t believe this for a minute.
Scobie is so savvy about how his words are perceived and I think starting with honey before the vinegar makes him much more credible. He’s not a deranged William hater, he used to like the guy! Now he’s an angry, unstable conniver compromising all of his early values to get in bed with the evil press and betray his own brother.
Powerful allegations need strategic messaging, and I perceive this as strategy and not proof that Angry Bill is a smart guy. I think Angry Bill thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room, loves to be told he’s smart and reads his own press obsessively. I wonder what his takeaway will be from this article?
Yeah, but “I still think he has great potential as a monarch.” Raging, jealous, lazy Bill has “great potential”? Nope.
@Pinkosaurus astute comment. +100
and my guess is that William if he even bothers to hear about it won’t give a toss. I’m a billionaire. MINE.
@Pinkosaurus, I disagree that this is about ‘honey before vinegar to be credible.’ The judge in Harry’s case has already vouched for Omid’s credibility. Omid’s own career is his credible calling card. Nope, Omid’s takes in Endgame are about carefully telling more of what he knows, making his bag, and moving on. As a reporter, Omid’s royal access is already significantly reduced, and frankly, there isn’t too much about the left-behinds that’s any fun to report on anyway. Meanwhile, Omid’s takes on William simply are what they are. I disagree with Omid’s takes on William, but I now have a better understanding of Omid’s thought process and trajectory. As Omid said in EG, “I unwillingly became part of the story.”
Omid is very savvy, bright, credible, ethical, a good writer, ambitious, and he knows how to put a book together; how to entertain; and how to package narratives. That’s not shade, it’s just that Omid is a fine entertainment reporter, who segued by a stroke of brilliance, hard work, and good luck, into becoming a royal reporter. Omid could never have known the tough journey he would end up having to navigate and endure. In part, Omid’s journey as a royal reporter is also what Endgame is about. Omid is the chess player, and this final chronicling of the Windsor clusterf*ck, is Omid’s own personal Endgame, as well as the monarchy’s urgent point of no return.
Same. And I have seen plenty of videos of Harry being pissed at the press and wants them away.
It does sound uncharacteristic of the William we know.
Of course, the Willy we know now is not the same as he was around the time he married, or at the time his mother died. After Diana’s death, Willy unfortunately received much of the adoration and adulation people had previously extended to her. That’s problematic cuz Willy had never done anything to earn the deification and rock star status he so quickly gained. Another problem was no mental health counseling as a teenager and twenty-something. Plus, being coddled and protected, thus not learning from his mistakes. Willy only learned that Harry was his spare, and that Harry would be there to pay the piper while he, Willy, future king got off the hook. Worser still is the fact that neither Willy nor Harry were helped to deal with their grief in the immediate aftermath of losing their mother.
It’s not hard to believe that William was more personable and less cold in his teens and 20s. He was fairly ‘personable and charming,’ until he got taken over by palace operatives, and Diana snatched her looks back. 🫣
💯
He just nosedived his credibility by describing PW as “smart and good at his job”. And, did PH “suck up to the press” or was he being his usual friendly self?
I remember reading somewhere (can’t remember where) that Harry was friendly with people in the media assigned to him on tours because he didn’t have anyone else. It wasn’t quite support he’d receive from these interactions, but they were familiar, if not friendly faces at the time. It made sense to me, in hindsight, why some reporters got super upset about Harry putting distance between them once Meghan entered the picture.
harry “sucking up to the media” was also what he was told to do by his father and courtiers, if I’m remembering spare correctly. It was kind of a “just be nice to the gentlemen fancy they’ll be nice to you” sort of thing, that Harry went along with to a certain extent until he just couldn’t do it anymore. Obviously there was some pushback along the way but he had no one to support him if he wanted to go against the press.
I also think when they started targeting Meghan something switched in Harry where he realized going along to get along was a losing strategy. I think he knew it before then, but I think realizing that Meghan was not going to be protected the way Kate had been once that engagement was announced was a big turning point for Harry.
This 100 percent.
Quoting Fancy? 👏👏👏
Yeah, you had me at the Fancy quote.
Omid said in FF that Harry would talk to the rota during tours because he had no one else to talk to. That changed when Meghan came along.
I agree with many of the comments. I can see Harry being friendly to the media surrounding him for several reasons. He was told to do so. He has excellent manners. And perhaps strongest reason of all, he probably thought that if he talked to them, he could widen their viewpoint and they’d see him as human, not just a story.
I find Scobie’s comment about Willy’s change in attitude & character interesting. And to a lesser extent, Harry’s attitude to the press. To my mind, this change speaks to his coming into his own as a man.
Fun fact: I just got my library copy of Endgame. And I looked at the cover and laughed. The library sticker with the barcode was placed right over the pic of our Willy. I checked my other library books. The stickers were all placed to NOT obstruct anything important. lol. Dear local librarian, good job.
Prince Harry changed as he realized that his close relationships were affected and that he was the sacrificial goat.
This description of Pegginton, however, is surprising. I do not recall anyone saying that he used to hate the press more than H or that he was smart at his job. This is all new to me. So…if this happened, WHEN did PW undergo this change and was it before or after Meghan arrived?
Oh I remember it – in the 2000s and early marriage days, he HATED the press.
Reading Endgame has helped enlighten me as to when/why he changed. Knowing that the machine of the monarchy is fixated on him and his reign because Charles is a placeholder helped more things make sense. I think it probably started around 2015 but he was reluctant, but when Meghan came into the scene he dove ALL IN on it.
I believe it was while touring in Pakistan (?). I remember there was a documentary where a royal reporter mentioned that for the first time William was very friendly with them and sat with them during the flight…was it in autumn 2019? I don’t know for sure but I think that during the same time frame William got the 1 million settlement for his phone-hacking from murdoch…
William’s hatred of the press was really really well known. I think it changed….at some point after George was born? Basically I think at some point he made a deal, either spoken or unspoken, with the press and started working with them, before Meghan even came on the scene.
there was an incident with a photographer hiding behind a car or something to get a picture of George and I think William lost his temper, there might have been legal action, I can’t remember the details now. But after that there was a shift, they started allowing more controlled access to the kids and now we kind of joke about, “oh the press is going to order them to trot out the kids!” but thats because that is what started to happen.
And then of course William started using Harry and Meghan to cover up his other issues.
Yeah…..it wd hv been helpful if scobie had described this so-called “job” that Bully Parker-Bowels is supposedly so good at……………this “job” that all the family members of the monarch do.
Why didnt scobie use the opportunity of writing this book, to tell the discerning amongst us onlookers, whether we are right or wrong in thinking that everyone of those royals below the post of monarch, are merely there engaging in performative nonsense disguised as “the job;” that theres a direct line from what the royals do as their “job” to the fears expressed by the late prince phillip and endorsed by the late queen betty that if they didnt do the things that make it appear that they were earning their keep, the hoi polloi might turn on them.
We know the constitution gives the monarch a “job” which, to a great extent as we have seen over the years, amounts to exempting the RF from laws that sought to modernize the society or that might adversely affect the RF’s financial structure and their revenues, and which are all designed to ensure the continuity of this anachronism whose raison d’etre is to stand still in a sea of change.
And to DESTROY anything or ANYONE that gives the peasants even a whiff of an idea that there maybe/perhaps/could be/possibly be a hint of “change” to the monarchy.
Idk, but I do believe William started changing just as Harry was changing. William didn’t need to suck up and make that many deals with the press bc he had Harry as his scapegoat. For years, that’s how it worked. But when harry started refusing things due to the press’ treatment of Meghan, well, that meant Harry’s role as distraction wasn’t there, which catalyzed William’s change. Meghan’s star quality, along with Harry, also catalyzed William’s change. He was jealous. Wanted it for himself and started making deals. His actions blew up in his face so it’s no wonder he’s bitter. He may get fawning press in the BM but on SM and thus on a global scale he’s treated like an absolute joke. Imo, William’s rep has taken a massive hit since Meghan entered the picture. And it’s not her fault; it’s his. Honestly, a lot of people weren’t paying attention and had no opinion one way or another and now a lot of people despise him due to his treatment of Meghan’s and Harry.
“And then of course William started using Harry and Meghan to cover up his other issues.”
It wasn’t just to cover up his mis endeavours but to ACTIVELY BREAK UP / SMASH& DESTROY Harry & Meghan’s marriage along with any prospective of having children. What they didn’t factor in was that Harry would leave with Meghan.
ITA with all that you said, @Jais 💯 🎯
you can’t modernize an institution where the whole basis of their existence is that a group of people believe they are god ordained to be greater than others. everything they do and represent (all the pageantry, customs, national events) that make them relevant are also deeply rooted in centuries of tradition reinforcing their worth as better than others. they are also the second largest land owners in the UK. I think putting the whole task of modernizing the monarchy on Meghan’s shoulders was unfair. to be more transparent, more encompassing, more equal would jeopardize the allure and status of the RF. so, i think at the end of the day, modernizing is abolishing it.
No lies detected, Hanna.
“ People who work with him describe him as someone you have to test the weather with before you speak. Will he be in a good mood or a bad mood?”
William really needs to work on his anger issues because it’s getting worrisome
It’s a telling admission. I used to work for someone like this. My colleagues also described it as waiting to see what the weather would be like on a given day. It was an absolute nightmare that traumatized a lot of people.
He’s an abuser. Abusers are like this.
You know, I was saying to my husband the other night that William would make a fascinating case study in terms of what happens to a person when they are never told no, when they are always told they are the most important person in the room, the funniest, the smartest, etc.
I think we all know people who are like this (their parents put them on a pedestal, they were never criticized in school) but at some point the real world kicks in – you don’t get that job you think you deserve, the person you asked out says no, you get an F on that test despite using your charm on the professor, whatever. Now obviously those people still tend to remain entitled aholes and those setbacks aren’t their fault etc etc.
But William has never had those setbacks, even to that small extent. He’s still treated like hes the most special person ever. I feel like Harry is one of the few people to look at him and go, “really? you think you’re all that and a bag of chips?”
Like…..is it any wonder William is an entitled rage-aholic ego maniac? He’s been allowed to be one since the day he was born. Diana, by all accounts, tried her best but its clear after her death no one has tried since.
Meghan was another person who was unimpressed with William and it obviously infuriated him.
Yeah she was not impressed. It must have been a shock to his system. A gorgeous woman from a show he watched religiously not being impressed by him and even politely asking him to remove his finger from her face. William gives some serious incel vibes.
@jais Have we discussed enough W physically intimidating M? Was this a one off? Does he think that because he can assault his brother that he can do the same to his brother’s wife? Let’s not forget that Valentine Low wrote that infamous article implying that W bullied out H AND M.
This has me curious: Who is accessible via the front row? Only the royals? The royals and close courtiers? Which level of access do the “not first row” sources have? How is it to work so closely with such entitled people who essentially do not need to worry about money, truth, social niceties, etc?
Billy Boy did not surround himself with good people just like his father. Diana is getting back anthem from beyond the grave. Too bad Billy Boy decided to follow the witch of England mistress wife ‘s people and get in bed with snakes and fleas.
“I don’t know how happy he is.” I still think William wants to blow from the monarchy. But that hardening Scobie refers to reads to me as someone who has given up and iis resigned to his fate. Over the past seven years his preoccupation and anger and competition with Harry and Meghan has given him life; but that is energy he could have put into some kind of therapy that helped him grow into an authentic human. His heart has never been into his royal role and now, in his forties, it shows all over his face.
Yeah his heart has never been into his royal role but it has always been into the perks and the power of his position 😉
@Harper
It could very well be true that “[the] hardening Scobie refers to [is of] someone who has given up and is resigned to his fate.” However, it seems more likely to me – as chucky is finding out now having waited an entire lifetime to become king, and becoming impatient with his mother’s long reign until finally usurping her as she withered away in her final years – that Bully might be slowly realizing that the journey was and is usually where joy can be found, not so much the destination.
So in ignoring the sights and sounds and experiences during the journey and focusing only on the destination (i:e finally getting the be monarch) he’s going to find that it will inevitably be a very disappointing experience and a pyrrhic victory.
Bully strikes me as someone who, yes, like scobie said, is hardening. And this seems to me to be because he is impatient with the waiting, especially because, not only does he no longer have control over his brother who usually could be used to take the pressure off him, but he’s palpably and visibly jealous that his brother is receiving global accolades for real, tangible, useful, global projects, and with a wife who is equally receiving her own global accolades and admiration for her tangible achievements and admirable qualities. Bully HATES that this is happening and that he cant squash it all.
Its disconcerting for anyone to find out that the thing youve waited a long time for, turns out to be NOT all it promised to be.
And there are folks who find out the hard way that getting what they want is not as great as they thought it would be, and they often respond to this phenom by becoming bitter and angry and loutish…….as well as cruel.
Bully’s growing bitterness (because thats what the “hardening” is all about) is visible all over his increasingly ugly face and ugly character.
NB:
“A pyrrhic victory is a victory that comes at a great cost, perhaps making the ordeal to win not worth it.”
– Merrian-Webster
@Kingston, I doubt that Willy thinks that deeply or philosophically about his life’s ‘journey’ being more important along the way as opposed to reaching a coveted ‘destination.’ Willy is surely not that self-aware or thoughtful! Willy seems more like a rage monster screaming BTS, “Mine, Mine, Mine!’ 😡
Agree with you
I vaguely remember over the years Willy’s hostility towards the media. The comment when he, KC and PH were on that skiing holiday and they asked him about marriage. He sneered and you could tell he was annoyed.
I do think he probably has changed over the years of being married and realizing he is deeply unhappy, but can’t admit that even to himself. His attitude towards the media I think changed when he realized that he could make himself look better by throwing his brother under the bus. After the wedding, he was getting all kinds of press positivity, especially around the Olympics, then Kate got preggers. He was on a roll. Then Meg showed up and people started to realize the future king is a damn lazy moron.
Between the Olympics 2012 and Meghan arriving the press called William and wife work-shy. Part of the reason for doing that was William and Kate was boring and weren’t giving them access. Meghan’s arrival did show them up but it also provided an opportunity for William to get the press on his side which he took with both hands.
Sorry, no, a big capital NO, Harry was not friendly with, or get on with “The Press”. Harry always hated the press intrusion. There were only two members of the pack that Harry had time for, one was Tom Bradby and the other was a photographer called Arthur. They treated him and his mother as human beings, not pay cheques, and would interact with him on a normal level. That’s why Tom was chosen for the interview! Harry was haunted by them everywhere he went. I can remember Harry punching one of them as he came out of a nightclub drunk, that wasn’t hushed up like Williams was, and when Harry just passed the time to be polite, with a female, the press had her pregnant by morning!! But isn’t it funny that Billy boy could be pictured getting pssd with his arms around a woman who wasn’t Kate, but that disappeared 5 minutes after the papers hit through stands. So sorry Omid, your credibility has just been blown for me, and no, it wasn’t just rumour about Rose, it’s fact, and there is a very good article about it by a very good investigative reporter about it that can still be found.
The same Arthur Edwards who took the infamous photo of Diana while working at the kindergartens? No. Harry was told by his father and the Palace that he had to be friendly to press and so he was. But he realised that being friendly to them did nothing as the same press smeared Meghan.
Pretty sure Arthur Edwards is the one who cries over the fact that Harry used to have a drink with them but changed after Meghan and wouldn’t give them the time of day. So now he is of course a Harry-hater. But know who he loves and rhapsodizes about? Camilla. She danced and smiled with him at an event so she’s gold now. The obviousness is obvious.
I can see what he said about Harry. Harry said he wanted even Camilla to be happy, so she could be less dangerous. I think, he thought the same thing with the press. There was no way he would work without the royal rota as a royal, so he tried to live with it and be personable. Before Will’s unhinged campaign against Meghan, H&M were getting better press than W&K. The worst reporting against Meghan started after Will & Rose story was stopped by Will’s office in exchange for negative briefings against H&M. Harry didn’t know that Will’s office was actively giving these stories with Will’s approval. So, he probably thought it was just press & maybe Camilla trying to destroy his family. Of course, he stopped being nice to them after that.
The institution can’t be modernised so Omid just has to accept it the way it is or call for its abolition.
I don’t know, I can’t keep up. So now, instead of Harry, it’s William who was the fun-loving one and hated the press? And Harry was what – a dull and gloomy suck up? T think everyone on the planet can guess that a turning point was when Meghan came into the picture. I haven’t read Endgame – does Scobie say exactly why and how this was a turning point, or it is the usual “RF missed an opportunity to modernize.”
@Eurydice, I have read the Endgame. He explains better in the book. Omid went to tours with both W & H. He said, when he asked Will about some lowkey project he was doing, he would light up and speak earnestly. Other than that, he was keeping press away from himself and his family very deliberately. Harry was trying to speak with press on tours, a kind of “if they like me, they would stop writing negative things” strategy. Remember, Will was away most of the time with his family, not full time working. Harry was always on tours, working.
About the turning point, Omid wrote that Will’s press secretary (Christian Jones) was trying to kill Rose affair story on the Sun (Dan Wootton). Jones messaged Omid about story not going away and if Omid gave some stories from Finding Freedom to Dan, maybe he would kill it and instead write about H&M. Omid rejected the offer. A few months later, Dan killed the Rose story and the negative Meghan stories began. So, obviously, Jones made a deal with Dan and Jones’s partner started to get payments from Dan in exchange of the stories. While H&M’s people were on a meeting with senior royal aides (including Jones), Dan was apparently getting informed in the minute about what was talked about and reporting it live. He said, it was as if Jones was messaging Dan under the table.
What do we make of his comment that the rosebush stories are all “nonsense”? I take that to mean there was never anything factual about it?? This is a different take than what is normally discussed here – that there was fact behind it and then it was all about the machinations to get the story buried.
Is Omid saying it was entirely made up? Full disclosure did not read endgame. Only the CB discussions!
Omid said he never saw any evidence of it. However, he wasn’t the one who broke the story, Dan Wootton was the reporter after the story. We don’t know how he found out about it, if he had good sources. But, at the time, the Sun was sending paps, reporters to Rose’s estate, so I am guessing they were sure there was something to it.
He’s saying he hasn’t seen evidence of it so he dismisses the rumors as nonsense and focuses instead on the cover up of it. And I understand that choice – he doesnt want the book to be about William’s affair, he wants it to be about what William was willing to do to protect his reputation, whether it was warranted or not.*
but not seeing any evidence of it and there not being evidence are two different things (I mean what evidence would there be? Pictures of William leaving Houghton Hall at 4 am?)
*I also think its just logical to assume that if the rumors weren’t true, William would not have reacted the way he did about the stories.
Rosebushgate demonstrates Big Willy’ s ruthlessness because first he cheats on his missus and he’s NOT bothered about Kate’s feelings but he can’t have The Scum exploding his reputation as a faithful husband. He willingly throws Meg and Harry to the tabs to deflect from his affair and continues to rubbish them both to this day.This is horribly coldblooded of a husband, brother and future Head of Church of England. Big Willy is now in hock to the tabs and they are waiting for the chance to print alsorts of juicy revelations about him and his marriage. Given his fear of scrutiny I can’t see him opening a can of worms by announcing a separation in 2024. Sure if they officially separated when she and the kids moved into Ade Cott then they could divorce next Summer but I doubt they will. He would only divorce if he felt in love with someone who wanted to be Queen. Otherwise he will continue with the status quo and the tabs will cover for him.
Didn’t Omid say in Endgame that there were lots of details about the Rose story that never made it into the paper, but that they laughed about in the newsroom?
Omid has no evidence that he can legally use in his book. But there are other stories and reports about the affair…namely Giles Coren immediately tweeting confirmation and Rose’s brother saying it all started with a few friendly dinners while Kate was away.
It’s possible that a tabloid does have photo evidence of the affair and this is why Burger King is suddenly so compliant, and why he fed Meghan to the wolves. Omid might not know everything the tabs have on William, and even if he did, he might not feel he could go on record with that.
When you see articles where royals are “desperate” to kill Rosebushgate, it’s seems like evidence is out there, whether it’s been shared with Scobie or not.
@Harper – you said something about Giles Coren, but I was under the impression that there was also a Scottish journalist who knew the details. Don’t recall name.
For sure, Omid made the choice not to get into details about ‘Rosegate’ because he apparently doesn’t feel he has enough solid evidence to say anything, on legal grounds. Keep in mind that Omid is also writing this book as his own personal ‘endgame’ of being a royal reporter, as I said earlier. Omid has already been pushed out, attacked and labeled, so he in essence is telling the truth of his royal reporter trajectory, while also trying to distance himself from the inaccurate label of ‘Sussex mouthpiece.’
There’s no reason for Omid to get into anything about ‘Rosegate.’ But what I find interesting is how Omid goes a step further to suggest those rumors are probably untrue. As well, Omid is very honest about Chuck’s faults, but he fudges and softens his depictions of William, Kate, and Camilla. 🤔 My take: At heart, Omid is a royalist. He’s honest, and ethical, but he’s still also a royalist. Only a royalist could look at William’s major faults truthfully yet in the same breath wax nostalgic about ‘how personable he can be,’ and then outright state (likely with fingers crossed) that overall, “William is a disciplined king-in-waiting.” 👀 🤦♀️
Also just to add in context of omid’s book promotion. He did an interview with Meredith on tik tok and mention that he was supposed to fly to Paris for book promotion but it was scrapped due to the high level of threats he was receiving. So they decided to do any further promotion remotely.
WTF!! This is so twisted – but not really surprising. In the current climate, non-white people get threats when they write critically about subjects that are considered integral parts of the national identity in the UK. One historian of British colonialism has to have a bodyguard when he does public speeches. So Omid writing critically about the British RF/monarchy sadly gets him threats that are severe enough that he no longer travels for promotion.