28 November 2023 , 08:47
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Princess Kate and Prince William have been branded "stiff" and "contrived" in a fiery royal book by author Omid Scobie.
The new title, Endgame, which was released today, delves into the real state of affairs within the Royal Family and the condition of the modern monarchy since the death of the universally popular Queen Elizabeth.
It is the public appearances aimed at younger people, Scobie argues, where William and Kate are falling short, and their efforts could even "start to come off as contrived" due to the "stiff" nature of the couple, leaving their attempts to reinvigorate the monarchy's popularity with young people unsuccessful.
Scobie claims that the Waleses don't have as much appeal to younger generations - a demographic that the monarchy is struggling to meaningfully engage with, polls have shown in the last year - as the Sussexes once did. The writer puts this down to Meghan and Harry's "generational awareness and interest in progressive social causes [that] fostered a connection between the family and young people of all backgrounds."
The author, who co-wrote the Sussexes' biography Finding Freedom, further argues that "Three years after the Sussexes' great escape, however, this connection is lost. As older millennials in their early forties, William and Kate should still have some vitality to offer, but many of their overtures—such as their rather stiff guest appearances for BBC Radio 1 and its fifteen-to-twenty-nine-year-old audience—may start to come off as slightly contrived."
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Scobie also notes that when Kate and William first launched a YouTube channel back in 2021 it was initially a "brief buzzy moment" and they gained an impressive 600,000 subscribers "but most videos posted these days barely reach 25,000 views."
Allies of William have jumped to the defence of the heir to the throne, accusing the royal writer of "peddling" conspiracy theories "dressed up as fact". But according to one source, there is one particular claim that will really anger the future King - and it concerns his wife the Princess of Wales.
In one extract, the book says that Kate is 'too scared' to do anything more than photo ops. In an interview, Mr Scobie also claims Kate has been praised for "small achievements" that would not be recognised if they had been done by other members of The Firm. He went on to tell the Sunday Times that "we infantilise [Kate] massively so the bar is always lower", and that she is "portrayed as a woman terrified to do anything more than grinning photo ops".
And a source close to William told the Daily Mail: "That will really wind William up. He's immensely proud of what his wife has achieved. The princess has been the driving force behind a great deal of their work, particularly when it comes to bettering mental health."
Other revelations from the new book include that Princess Anne was one of the driving forces behind the Sussexes being evicted from their Windsor home, and that there were two people who commented on Archie's skin colour while Meghan was pregnant with her first child, not one - something that the Duchess of Sussex first revealed in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
In his new tome Endgame, Scobie "pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil" in a bid to "show what the monarchy must change in order to survive". Endgame has been published in the UK today but was released in Australia on Monday, after being pushed back from August to include events surrounding the King's Coronation. It is subtitled "Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival".
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