Meghan Markle Biographer Says Prince William Wanted Him Banned From Events

The author of a bestselling biography of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has claimed that Prince William was so incensed by revelations in the book that he wanted the writer "barred" from his royal engagements.

Omid Scobie, the royal journalist who co-authored the 2020 biography Finding Freedom, discussed William's reported response to his work in an opinion piece on Wednesday promoting his upcoming book, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival.

Billed as an exposé of the "chaos, family dysfunction, distrust and draconian practices" of the House of Windsor, Scobie's Endgame is set for publication in November, chronicling the changes that have befallen the royals since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

In an article for the i newspaper in Britain, Scobie wrote that in recent years "royal churnalism—the regurgitation of press releases and steady supply of briefing memos sent out by royal aides—has become the tried-and-trusted reporting style for a number of royal correspondents when it comes to protecting precious relationships with those at the Palace."

When Finding Freedom was published in 2020 as an authoritative account of Harry and Meghan's experiences in the royal "firm" and the circumstances around their decision to leave it, Scobie wrote that his first experience of Palace displeasure with his work came from one of the book's prominent figures, Prince William.

"Sources told me that Prince William was so incensed by my revelations that his Kensington Palace team had given negative information to favoured journalists about his brother that he wanted me barred from his engagements," he claimed.

Among the revelations in Finding Freedom was the claim that William had told Harry: "Don't feel you need to rush this," when talking about his relationship with Meghan, adding: "Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl."

Scobie has continued to write about the royals while producing his second book and has regularly commented on Harry and Meghan's activities since their move to the U.S..

Finding Freedom, and Scobie's relationship with Meghan, came under public scrutiny in 2021, during Meghan's legal battle with the Mail on Sunday publisher, Associated Newspapers Limited, over the publication of a private letter she had written to her father in 2018.

The publishers argued that Meghan had been aware that the letter could have been published because she ran the wording by her then-communications secretary, Jason Knauf.

As part of the litigation, Knauf provided a cache of email exchanges and text messages with the duchess to the court, and in them it revealed that Meghan had been informed of Scobie and co-author Carolyn Durand's Finding Freedom, and in one case wrote notes on her early years for Knauf to brief them.

The revelation that Meghan had been aware of and indirectly assisted the authors, came as she previously told the court that she "did not contribute" to the project.

In a court filing in the trial, Meghan apologized for forgetting the email exchange with Knauf, and told the court she didn't intend to mislead it in any way.

She said: "I accept that Mr Knauf did provide some information to the authors for the book and that he did so with my knowledge, for a meeting that he planned for with the authors in his capacity as communications secretary. The extent of the information he shared is unknown to me.

"When I approved the passage...I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the court for the fact that I had not remembered these exchanges at the time. I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the court."

Meghan went on to win her privacy case, despite Knauf's evidence.

Since that incident, Scobie has attempted to clarify that he doesn't share a close relationship with Meghan or Harry.

In June 2023, the writer stood as a witness in the prince's recent legal trial against a tabloid newspaper publisher, providing testimony that editors were aware of illegal phone hacking at their titles. Scobie told a London court during cross-examination that: "I don't have his [Prince Harry's] phone number, I have never socialised with him."

Per the Evening Standard, Scobie went on to add that he wasn't appearing out of a desire to further his relationship with Harry and Meghan, and that by doing so he had provided critics with "ammunition" to discredit his work alleging him to be the "couple's friend, mouthpiece, and cheerleader."

"What I'm doing here is I'm actually making my life more difficult," he said.

Discussing his upcoming book for the i newspaper on Wednesday, Scobie wrote that drawing on his experiences, it will focus on the good and the bad aspects of the monarchy and its key players.

"The things to be proud of and those they should be ashamed of," he said. "Precisely because this is an establishment that sits at the heart of our society, and a family that has often been held up as role models of civility and decorum, it's more important than ever we can take an accurate look at whether that still holds today."

Newsweek approached Kensington Palace via email for comment.

Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival by Omid Scobie will be published globally by Dey Street Books on November 21, 2023.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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