Omid Scobie's new book

[boxedandribboned]

Heads up, Omid is back on the PR trail...

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/harry-meghan-author-omid-scobie-31362434

BTW, can anyone explain why he's Harper's Royal reporter when he only seems to have access to or report on Harry and Meghan? It's a bit strange.

The anecdote about silence in the car although in itself trivia will be the titbit that tells William for sure if Harry and/ or Meghan leaks to OM. As unlike lots of other bits of gossip this one has only 4 witnesses as there were only the 4 of them in the car - no driver / assistant/ housekeeper / friend to overhear. So no plausible deniability option.

The massive candle that hid them from the TV cameras at the funeral, Anne's red feather cap that hid Harry at the Coronation. All quite comedic.

That is an amusing one.

At the Queens funeral, the location of the camera meant that Meghan was obscured by one of the candles. At Charles coronation, Harry's face was obscured by the plume on Princess Annes hat. Generated a huge amount of very funny memes.

Well, save for H&M telling one of their pals after the event, who then passed that on to OS (with or without their permission to do so).

That’s hysterical! Not sure how I missed the feather thing.

Some people are so observant, it is still very funny.

I've now read the interview with Scobie in The Sunday Times and the nicest thing I could say about him is that he seems delusional. None of his conclusions about Charles, Camilla, William or Catherine seem to bear much resemblance to the real people we see, even allowing for the fact that we only see them 'on duty', he really hates Catherine.

He seems to genuinely believe that he has written a serious book warning that if the royal family don't change course they will be abolished. I'm pretty sure that anyone who reads it will see it as more gossip from a man who thinks you travel from Scotland to the UK.

I wonder why he’s so angry with Catherine.

He seems to genuinely believe that he has written a serious book warning that if the royal family don't change course they will be abolished. I'm pretty sure that anyone who reads it will see it as more gossip from a man who thinks you travel from Scotland to the UK.

😂

The only way the Royal Family will be abolished is if there's a political coup that overthrows Parliament and installs a Republican leader, thus ending hundreds of years of monarchy. That's never going to happen in a million Sundays and OS is absolutely insane if he thinks it's a possibility and that his tawdry little tome is the answer to how the Royals stop it happening!

Yes it's probably why he gets on so well with the Sussexes, they're all delusional and see slights and slurs everywhere.

I hope he can find something worthwhile to do, he is clearly well educated and intelligent wtf is he doing with all this spiteful nonsense?

Because this isn't something that can be won. Catherine can be the most hated woman in Britain. Short of a coup, divorce or death, she will still be Queen consort one day, her husband will be King, her child will take the throne. It's the channelling of someone else's pure, impotent, narcissistic rage.

I wonder that too .
Having said that there are some posters on the RF board ( strangely absent from this thread!) who seem to dislike Catherine , calling her lazy and criticising her clothes.

I have no idea, maybe the book will give answers to that? He says that all she does is grin in photo ops which is a bizarre take that doesn't bear any relation to reality.

I think the hate directed to Kate is simply because she is just the perfect future queen. Jealousy plain and simple. She is beautiful and can seemingly turn her hand to most sports and activities in a competent manner , she can play the piano reasonably well, she is a great mother , has a normal family that like each other and get on. People like her , she is nice! The only thing we don’t know if she can do is sing but she can probably do that too!
I honestly think it’s just that as basic as that sounds. Meghan clearly wanted to become her friend originally and was surprised when Kate did not reciprocate ( wisely as it turns out)

I also think when this book was conceived by H/M/ omid, Marcus Anderson etc they imagined the royal family in disarray and the montecito duo riding high in public perception, living their best lives with their Hollywood friends. That hasn’t been the case, n fact the opposite has happened.
I think omid just backed the wrong royal horse and us pissed off about that fact!

Also, misogyny - some people just like to blame a woman.

I’ve said from day one that this was about money - having to pay for security and Pa’s Bank closing suddenly, and Meghan’s jealousy of Catherine. I said this on a previous thread and someone agreed and said “the rest is just flummery” sorry can’t remember who, and I don’t think it can be put any better than that.

@BethDuttonsTwin - good point.
It's all about money.
They were riding high after the wedding and thought they could monetise it.

I wasn't too sure about Kate in the early days. I didn't have much respect for such a well educated woman who was sitting about waiting to get married. However now I think William was lucky to meet her. Apart from being beautiful and apparently able to excel at anything, she seems to understand her role and her duty. The only criticism I can make of her is she seems to pick too many engagements in the London area, probably because she doesn't want to leave the children. I understand that but the RF are supposed to serve the whole country, not just the south east.

Extracts from New York Times book review,

In the past I, like others, have held back on revealing some of the darker truths at the heart of the institution of the British monarchy,” he writes. “Part of this book will burn my bridges for good. But to tell the full story, there’s no holding back. Not anymore. We’re in the endgame.”

However, readers hoping for a final death blow of gossip will be disappointed. We’ve heard much of it before. From Fergie, from Diana, from Charles, from Harry, from Harry, from Harry again.

Whether or not Scobie actively collaborated with Meghan and Harry for this book, he does them no favors. Their chapter reads like a press release cooked up by ChatGPT, and does little to shed light on them as humans. He says the couple — who used to focus on coverage of themselves — now remain blissfully unconcerned.

His book presents a critical view of palace machinations and the central players involved, and reflects on whether the monarchy should consider “standing back and watching the curtain slowly close” on a thousand years of British history. (😂)

Apart from being beautiful and apparently able to excel at anything, she seems to understand her role and her duty

Well the first is subjective and the second based on a very carefully curated image, but the bit about role and duty is certainly true

FWIW it's not a role I admire any woman for choosing, but I respect her right to do exactly that and nobody can deny she makes a damned good job of it - at least within what many expect of the RF

And that must really stick in the craw of those who've proved themselves utterly unsuitable (and not just H&M)

😉

I think it's fair enough to criticise Kate for her work and to criticise royalty as an institution. It's also healthy to have a debate about the nature of monarchy.
However, this book isn't about that. It's about personal smears, gossip, and petty point scoring. That's the problem.

I think kate by any measure is objectively beautiful by most of the worlds beauty standards. She has a beautiful face for a start. I can’t imagine anyone seriously arguing otherwise.
she is also just good at doing stuff. That is not just a curated imagine. For example sporty stuff . If she had two left feet and no hand / eye co ordination ( and nothing wrong with that btw) no one could hide that fact or “curate”it away.
She has also proved her mothering mettle in multiple occasions now dealing with a naughty 3 year old louis pretty well in full camera glare.

she is objectively good at what she does!

Whether or not Scobie actively collaborated with Meghan and Harry for this book, he does them no favors. Their chapter reads like a press release cooked up by ChatGPT, and does little to shed light on them as humans. He says the couple — who used to focus on coverage of themselves — now remain blissfully unconcerned.

Omid’s actually now undermining their careful PR narrative that they are “blissfully unconcerned”, though. The story below for example was set up on the day that the Frogmore eviction became publicly known - the couple appeared publicly for the first time in ages at an LA celebrity favourite location, but chose not to use the exclusive, papparazzi-free rear entrance so they could be snapped entering, along with a breezy “Frogmore? What Frogmore?” demeanour.

Except Omid now tells us they were so furious at the King’s decision that Harry rang him and angrily asked him if he never wanted to see his grandchildren again. So not exactly breezy, then?

https://pagesix.com/2023/02/28/meghan-markle-prince-harry-have-first-night-out-since-spare-released/

In the past I, like others, have held back on revealing some of the darker truths at the heart of the institution of the British monarchy,” he writes. “Part of this book will burn my bridges for good. But to tell the full story, there’s no holding back. Not anymore. We’re in the endgame.”

Well, I have to say I don't disagree with him on 'We're in the endgame' but
do disagree that it's endgame for the monarchy, the balance is tipped firmly in the other direction. There is a large dollop of irony there.