Omid Scobie’s novel, Royal Spin, came out this week in the US and UK. The British media has been trying to review-bomb the book, because don’t you know, anyone who tries to be fair to Prince Harry and Meghan must be punished and banished! The sheer amount of vitriol lodged at Scobie is still pretty startling, honestly. Anyway, Omid sent me a copy of Royal Spin last year and I enjoyed it – it’s a very easy-breezy read and I think it will make a great TV show (it’s already being adapted). Having read it, I can safely say that Scobie’s time as a royal reporter influenced the story, but the world he creates in the book is absolutely NOT the real Windsor/royalist-media ecosystem. The Daily Mail has been throwing everything they can at this book in a bizarre attempt to convince people that it’s a barely fictionalized version of Harry and Meghan’s story. It is not. Please enjoy this huffy Mail story: “Sussex supporter Omid Scobie finally addresses claims his new romcom is based on Harry and Meghan.” FINALLY! Again, the book just came out this week. And no one who reads the book will actually think that it’s based on Harry and Meghan.
Royal biographer Omid Scobie has said his new fiction book about a feisty American publicist falling in love with a handsome British Duke is a ‘real mix of things true and not true’. Royal Spin is the 44-year-old journalist’s first foray into fiction, as Scobie teamed up with young adult author Robin Benway to write a book inspired by Emily In Paris and gay romance, Red, White & Royal Blue, according to its blurb.
Some people have suggested the plot is inspired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s whirlwind love story, and Scobie addressed the comparisons in a recent interview promoting Royal Spin.
During an appearance on Good Morning America, the Finding Freedom author said: ‘We really wanted to make sure that this felt like a completely separate universe. We didn’t want someone to be like, “That’s Harry and Meghan! That’s the Andrew situation.” We wanted it to live in its own space.’
However, he added his job as a royal reporter inspired the plotlines and characters, explaining: ‘It’s a real mix of things true and not true.’
The book chronicles the adventures of Lauren Morgan, an American spin doctor who quits her job at the White House to be appointed head of communications at Buckingham Palace in a decision that alters her life forever.
Both Scobie and his co-author Benway have maintained that the ‘royals in our book definitely have their own things going on’, adding that it’s a ‘completely alternate universe’. Plot points include Lauren’s strained relationship with her father, the fictional Duke’s disdain for the Palace press office, and a ‘racist’ royal overheard telling a foreigner to ‘learn proper English’.
Listing some that may have been inspired by real events, Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir noted protagonist Lauren’s difficult relationship with her troubled father in what was seen as a thinly-veiled reference to Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle. The plucky American heroine also hates ‘pantyhose’ like the Duchess of Sussex, who said she was made to ‘wear nude pantyhose’ during her time as a working royal in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang last year.
You know what offends me about the false comparison between Royal Spin and the Sussexes? The heroine of the book is a plucky American PR woman who… takes a JOB at the palace. She interviews for the job, she provides insight and counsel and she’s treated as an employee. Why are they trying to say that THIS is Meghan’s story? Meghan wasn’t hired for a job, she fell in love with a prince and married him. She didn’t submit her CV, she didn’t interview for the job of duchess. Now, no doubt, they treated her like she was a lowly servant. Anyway… I would recommend Royal Spin, it’s a breezy, enjoyable read. F–k the haters.
Additionally, Deadline reports that Royal Spin is now being developed for Peacock.
Photos courtesy of Omid Scobie’s Instagram.
Omid looks different to me somehow? Maybe it’s just that he is living here in the states and he is happy.
He spent a lot of time at the gym bulking up when he was living in LA. (He posted gym pics on his IG so he wasn’t hiding this).
There are some very jealous royal reporters. The jealousy is oozing. Hope omid is enjoying his life in the states. Ordered his book and looking forward to reading it.
Just ordered it! I hope it does well. Looking forward to the screen adaptation. 🙂
My copy came yesterday! planning on reading it this weekend.
I ordered it too. I enjoyed endgame and this sounds like a nice light read which works right now.