Members of the royal family were each allowed a private moment alone with Queen Elizabeth following her death in September 2022, a royal book has claimed.
A passage in Endgame, by royal biographer Omid Scobie, details Her late Majesty’s final days at Balmoral after spending the summer in the Aberdeenshire residence as she did every year.
In Scobie’s description of September 8, 2022, when the Queen passed away, her two eldest children, Charles and Anne, had been by her side overnight; while Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and Prince William made the journey to Scotland on the day; shortly before 4pm and were each allowed a private moment with her following her death.
Elsewhere in the book, the author details how the Queen’s last summer at Balmoral was largely peaceful; but despite ailing health she remained committed to her duty – particularly when it came to overseeing a change of UK prime minister two days before she died.
Scobie writes that, despite several palace aides encouraging the monarch to allow Prince Charles (who was staying less than 10 miles away) to accept Boris Johnson’s official resignation and perform ‘the kissing of hands’ with incoming prime minister Liz Truss, the Queen insisted she carry out this important duty, telling aides: ‘It’s my job.’
Scobie writes that, in private, the late monarch was in ‘crippling pain’, but insisted in public that she must carry out her royal duty.
He quoted people close to the palace who said the late Queen’s final summer at Balmoral was filled with ‘walks, picnics and barbecues’, and the monarch enjoyed sitting in the sunshine much of the time.
However despite a much slower pace of life due to her declining health, the monarch ensured her red box full of government papers was up to date every day, and carried out her duty to the best of her ability.
The description delving inside the royal family are some of many explosive claims made in Scobie’s book, which is published at midnight in the UK.
Elsewhere, the royal author, who has worked for ABC, Harpers Bazaar and Yahoo, claimed there were two members of the royal family who made comments about Prince Archie’s skin colour when Meghan was still pregnant with her son.
He claimed letters exchanged between King Charles III and the Duchess of Sussex reveal the names of the two people who allegedly made the comments.
The royal author, whose new book Endgame comes out at midnight tonight, said he could not reveal the identities of the two people for fear of legal reprisals in the UK.
But he said letters were exchanged between Charles and Meghan following the allegation in the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie’s skin colour.
He said: ‘I do know who made the comments about Archie’s skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.
‘We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that’s how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.
‘And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.’
Mr Scobie’s claims threaten to reignite the ‘royal racist’ row that came about after Harry and Meghan’s interview.
Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about ‘how dark his (Archie’s) skin might be when he’s born’.
But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household – who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself – also made similar comments.
The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled ‘Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival’.
The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.
And Mr Scobie added to ABC: ‘I think before people assume that I’m calling this the end of the Royal Family, I’m simply declaring that we’ve reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.’
He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.
Mr Scobie said: ‘He’s sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.’
Describing William as a ‘company man’, he said: ‘We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution’.
The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles ‘may be on the mend’.
Mr Scobie said: ‘There is a steady open line of communication between the two, where they are able to talk with each other. Where Harry, I would say, clearly understands that his father probably isn’t the most emotional or open person’.
The report on ABC said its interview with Mr Scobie also saw him claim he felt he was caught up in a family drama – and that Meghan contacted him to check he was OK.
ABC claimed Mr Scobie also says that he is not that close with Harry and Meghan and he ‘never chose Team Sussex’.
The interview will be broadcast tomorrow night on Nightline.
Mr Scobie tweeted a link to the interview on X today, adding: ‘More of this @GMA interview will be aired Tuesday on @ABC @Nightline and I’ll be live in the studios for @ABCGMA3 and @ABCNewsLive tomorrow, the global release day of #ENDGAME.’
Mr Scobie’s book is said to make a series of claims involving the Sussexes – including that William was involved in ‘things that have gone out about his own brother’, that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.
Among the claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has ‘quietly thanked’ Piers Morgan for ‘defending the Firm’ and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
