William pals slam claims he briefed against Harry amid new book bombshells

27 November 2023 , 07:44

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Princes William and Harry (Image: Getty Images)

Prince William's friends have slammed "outrageous" claims he briefed against brother Prince Harry.

Allies have jumped to the defence of the Prince of Wales, accusing royal writer Omid Scobie of "peddling" conspiracy theories "dressed up as fact" ahead of his latest book Endgame. Scobie has suggested William "prioritised his loyalty to the monarchy" over his younger sibling and leaked information about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to undercut them.

In an interview with the Sunday Times to publicise the book, the writer describes the future king as power-hungry and increasingly willing to allow the Palace to deploy underhand tricks. There are questions over the sourcing for the book, with Meghan and Harry having distanced themselves from it and the author.

Friends say the brothers are still 'scarred' by their childhood (AFP via Getty Images)

One friend of William's told the Daily Mail he and his brother are "scarred" by their childhoods and he has "always been very tight-lipped when it comes to his family and made clear to anyone within his orbit that he would not do 'deals' with the media".

Another said: "It's one thing writing a critique of the Royal Family. That's freedom of expression. But it's another thing to peddle conspiracy theories dressed up as fact. The suggestion that [royal aides] were briefing negative stories [about Harry and Meghan] is totally fabricated. It just didn't happen. The truth is that everyone was walking on eggshells practically from the engagement trying to keep them happy."

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Scobie also suggested to the Sunday Times Kate is an underachiever and scared of putting a foot wrong, which one source said will "really wind William up" who is "proud of his wife" and both their work. Insiders also maintain that a number of significant claims made by Scobie are "just plain wrong" and "rehashed".

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This includes bizarre claims that an allegedly out of touch King Charles demands his shoelaces are ironed - something which originally emerged 20 years ago. Scobie also says two people in the monarch's circle of expressing concerning about Prince Archie's skin colour, but claims libel laws prevent him from identifying them.

The Sussexes says Scobie is not part of their "camp" - though the book claims to have an intimidate knowledge of letters, phone calls, texts and other conversations between the couple and the other royals. Scobie reacted to coverage his book with a rant on social media saying "twisting of facts and misquoting going on right now has reached new levels of desperation".

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Ryan Merrifield