Friends of Prince William have reportedly denied “outrageous” suggestions that he briefed against his own brother.
Extracts from Endgame, an upcoming book on the royals by Omid Scobie, claim William had been behind briefings to the press that Prince Harry was “mentally fragile”.
The author – who co-wrote the controversial book Finding Freedom about the Sussexes – also described the Prince of Wales as a hot-headed “company man” and “an heir increasingly comfortable with the Palace’s dirty tricks and the courtiers who dream them up”.
However, friends of Prince William have described the claims as conspiracy theories “dressed up as fact” ahead of the book's release on Tuesday.
“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," one person told the Daily Mail.
“Like Harry, he is scarred by his childhood experiences, seeing his mother and father engaged in what was dubbed 'the war of the Waleses'.
“He never wanted history to repeat itself. That was something that he and Harry were meant to be united on.”
Another reportedly added: “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.”
Scobie also alleges William and Kate found a South Park episode, which lampooned the Sussexes by depicting them embarking on a Worldwide Privacy Tour, "hilarious".
There are claims that Scobie was heavily briefed by the Sussexes' camp. But he insisted last month on X, formerly known as Twitter: "It's not 'Harry and Meghan's book', I'm not 'Meg's pal', the Sussexes have nothing to do with it."
