The Prince of Wales is competing with his father King Charles for control of the royal family, author Omid Scobie has claimed in his new, no-holds-barred book.
In Endgame, William is portrayed as a cold, ambitious, hot-tempered prince, impatiently awaiting his turn on the throne.
Citing conversations and interviews with palace insiders, he suggests that William is snapping at Charles’s heels, determined to bring the royal family into the 21st century by ripping up the institution’s centuries-old rulebook and doing things “the Cambridge way”.
“He’s not giving his father the same space Charles did with the Queen,” Scobie writes. “There’s no time for that.”
Charles and Williams are said to have different views on the future of the royal family— (Getty Images)
One of the major themes of royal reporter Scobie’s book is an alleged rift between William and Charles, who was named King after the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. According to Scobie, father and son are united in their frustration with Prince Harry, but have different ideas for how the family should be run.
“Contrary to public belief, [Charles] leads with his head and his heart,” Scobie quotes a source close to the King as saying. “[William] is colder in that respect. He just wants to get the job done and has no problem taking prisoners along the way.”
The British journalist describes their offices in Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace as “hives of competing agendas” with “different ideas about how to modernise” the monarchy.
While William “respects his father”, Scobie writes, “their views, [and] their outlooks are very different, and I can see that becoming an issue over the years ahead”.
Charles and William shares frustrations with Harry’s behaviour, the book says— (Getty Images)
Elsewhere in the new book, he claims Charles was “quietly annoyed” after Prince William announced the Earthshot Prize – a global initiative aimed at tackling the climate crisis – without involving his father or crediting him in any way.
Charles, 75, has consistently championed environmental issues, including sustainability, conservation and global warming, for the past five decades.
At 21, the former Prince of Wales highlighted the menace of plastic pollution, while launching the Countryside Award Scheme in support of organisations “which have promoted projects that are a distinctive contribution towards improving the general quality and beauty of the environment in Wales”. He has since remained a passionate and outspoken climate advocate.
Referring to William’s Earthshot initiative, launched in 2020, a source at Clarence House told Scobie that Charles “had hoped that William would want to involve his father or at least credit him for inspiring him to take on this role, but instead it was as if [Charles’s environmentalism] didn’t even exist”.
Charles has led the way for a smaller Firm since the death of his mother— (Getty Images)
Endgame, which will be released on 28 November, takes a critical look at the monarchy in its current form and its “fight for survival” in the 21st century. You can read nine of the biggest revelations from the book here.
It comes three years after Scobie’s first book, Finding Freedom, which chronicles the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan’s love story, marriage, and eventual decision to relocate to the US after resigning as senior members of the royal family.
The Independent has contacted Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace for comment.
