ENDGAME

A bold inquiry into the House of Windsor.

Scobie, Harper’s Bazaar editor at large and Yahoo! News executive editor, has covered the royal family since 2011. The author moved into their territory with Finding Freedom, his previous book about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In this new work, already underway when Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, the author examines how his revelations of Buckingham Palace “backroom machinations” left him open to the “toxic practices” the royals routinely use to gain media leverage. No longer can the British monarchy sail along as the late queen did with her Victorian motto of “never complain, never explain.” King Charles III faces a shrinking Commonwealth, and many wonder if this “transition king” is up to the task; the British public increasingly questions the relevance of the monarchy. “King Charles III and his relatively short reign will never reach the national treasure status that his mother achieved,” writes the author, “even with Union Jacks fluttering behind him.” Scobie investigates the spin machinery that all the major royals use to make their case, such as the press outcry with the publication of Harry’s book, Spare, and the inconsistent, delayed reaction to censoring Andrew for his sexual abuse scandal. No longer in “lockstep,” the royals now have their own press offices and agendas, most notably William, whom the author has watched morph from an aloof backbencher into a “company man…increasingly comfortable with the Palace’s dirty tricks.” The author capably discusses the accusations of racism, as well as the palace’s shameless record of misogynist gaslighting, and he engagingly analyzes Harry’s bold challenge of the British tabloids, Camilla’s steely rehabilitation, and Kate’s role as scandal-free cipher à la Queen Elizabeth.

While offering no new palace scandals, Scobie maintains his steady scrutiny of the British royal family.