Everything Meghan Markle's Ex Friend Omid Scobie Got Wrong About Royals In His Book
On November 28, 2023, Omid Scobie's "Endgame" became the latest entry in an ever-growing list of royal biographies. Previously, Scobie and Carolyn Durand co-authored "Finding Freedom," a bestselling book that focused on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's departure as working members of the royal family. While Scobie has been closely tied to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, he refutes those claims. "No matter how many times I explain that I'm not her friend," the journalist told The Evening Standard, "there's always going to be a million people still calling me 'Meg's pal.'" During a TV appearance in Australia, Scobie went even further, saying that he had never spoken with the Sussexes in person or via phone/email.
However, in "Endgame", Scobie details a 2018 call he reportedly received from Meghan after reports that the journalist was attacked online. In addition, Meghan admitted in 2021 that she had instructed her staff members to cooperate with Scobie and Durand as they wrote "Finding Freedom," with Meghan's own words appearing in the book. For "Endgame," Scobie still maintains that Harry and Meghan did not provide info and that he relied only on royally-affiliated individuals as sources.
Regardless of Scobie's sources, readers of the book are discovering several errors within its pages. Writing in the Daily Mail, Rebecca English says of Scobie, "He has a right to be critical, but a responsibility to be fair." Here are the mistakes fact-checkers have flagged.
Scobie's depiction of Diana's tragic death has similarities to a conspiracy theory
In "Endgame," Omid Scobie claims that the 1997 Paris car accident that led to Princess Diana's death occurred when a white flash from a motorcycle impaired Henri Paul's ability to see where he was driving. This scenario is similar to allegations put forth by Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodi Fayed. While the book attributes the flash to a paparazzi photographer, Al-Fayed asserted that the white flash came it from secret service agents who were deliberately attempting to cause the collision. French and British police dismissed this conspiracy idea, citing that Paul was drunk and alcohol impairment led to the fatal accident.
In Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," he revealed that he believed that paparazzi were culpable for the accident and wondered if the driver had, in fact, been blinded by them. Witnesses at the scene did attest to seeing a flash at the tunnel, as well as paparazzi, but the investigation was unable to obtain consistent testimony from observers.
At the 2007 inquest into Diana's death, one of the witnesses, Francois Levistre, testified that he saw a motorcycle that night and that the light was considerably brighter than a camera flash. He also insisted that paparazzi weren't in the tunnel. Unfortunately, Levistre's credibility was questioned as details of his testimony contradicted previous statements he had given, adding to the difficulty of discovering the exact details of what happened in the moments leading up to the car accident.
Endgame has some numerical inaccuracies
When discussing the death of Queen Elizabeth II, "Endgame" claims that the news became public at 6:10 p.m. on September 8, 2022. However, the announcement actually occurred 20 minutes later, at 6:30 p.m. This isn't the first time Scobie has made errors concerning the queen's death. While he participated in TV coverage of Elizabeth's funeral, the journalist spoke of her coffin traveling from "Scotland to the U.K.," despite the fact that the U.K. includes Scotland. In that case, however, U.K.-born Scobie was sanguine when he later acknowledged his geographical error.
"Endgame" also mentions that Queen Camilla and Queen Elizabeth II first met in June 2000 at a 50th birthday party at Highgrove. In this case, while the date and place of Camilla's first meeting with her future mother-in-law are correct, it was a 60th birthday celebration honoring Greece's King Constantine.
Another numerical mistake in "Endgame" is its assertion that Catherine, Princess of Wales has employed five private secretaries within a six-year period. The Telegraph countered this claim, stating that the correct number was three. While Scobie insisted that his information was hush-hush and wouldn't be divulged by the media, The Telegraph pointed out that it had detailed the hiring history of Kate's secretaries four days before "Endgame" hit shelves.
Scobie is inconsistent in his use of royal titles
Since Queen Elizabeth's death, numerous royal titles have changed. While writing about a particular moment in time, it can make sense to use the royal titles that applied at that moment, typically with the word "then." In "Endgame," when describing the royals' flight to Balmoral on September 8, 2022, Omid Scobie refers to Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh as "still then the Countess of Wessex" (via Express). However, just pages earlier, Scobie forgets to use "then" with her former title.
This lapse contrasts with Scobie's allegation that the discussion and changes concerning Queen Camilla's titles before King Charles' accession "were just white lies the Palace is now keen for people to forget," per Express. In 2005, when Camilla and Charles married, she was forecast to become Princess Consort when Charles became king, in recognition that Charles' affair with Camilla was a sensitive issue. Even so, in 2010 Charles admitted during an interview that it was still possible that Camilla would receive the title of queen.
In February 2022, Queen Elizabeth declared her desire for Camilla to become Queen Consort following Charles' accession. When Camilla's title was streamlined to Queen after Charles' May 2023 coronation, this tweak was about removing an adjective, not deception. Royal historian Marlene Koenig and The Times archivist Rose Wild both maintain that "consort" describes the title, not a required component of it. Shortening to queen is consistent with other women who married into the monarchy.