The Quietly Cold Way William Snubbed Harry Before The Queen's Death

Things between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, have been tense since 2020. Sadly, their relationship worsened in the year since Queen Elizabeth II's death, but even before she passed away, William apparently snubbed Harry in a casually cruel way: he ignored a text from his younger brother.

Omid Scobie is a journalist and author who covers the royals. Page Six received a copy of his book "Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival" prior to its November 28, 2023 publishing date, and the outlet divulged the details of a text exchange covered in Scobie's book. Harry apparently reached out to William, trying to figure out how to get to Scotland, knowing he had to get there to say goodbye to his grandmother.

One source told Scobie, "William ignored him," adding, "He clearly didn't want to see his brother." Harry then had to spend over $30,000 for his own plane, but sadly, Queen Elizabeth died before he even got off the ground. The other royals knew before Harry did, and the public found out while he was flying. On the way, Harry discovered that his grandmother died, and one of his friends told Scobie, "Harry was crushed. ... [The Queen] would have wanted him to know before it went out to the world. They could have waited just a little longer, it would have been nothing in the grand scheme of things, but no one respected that at all."

People magazine also published the excerpt of "Endgame" about the ignored text. The longer passage said that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were already in the U.K. when now-King Charles reached out to his younger son and told him to come to Balmoral in Scotland since Queen Elizabeth wasn't going to make it much longer. It also claimed Harry was unable to make contact with any other royals flying in Prince William's plane to Scotland. Although Omid Scobie found no concrete proof, Charles apparently attempted to call Harry and share the news before the world knew.

When Scobie sat down with "Good Morning America" to discuss his book, he shared a claim about William's loose lips that also paints him in a negative, non-brotherly light: "Endgame" accused William of speaking with the media about Prince Harry's life. In the interview, Scobie said, "He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later." He added that this "caused irreparable damage" to the brothers' relationship.

This claim has been called false by people in the Prince of Wales' corner. "[William] 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," an insider told the Daily Mail, completely disagreeing with Scobie's writings. 

Another source for the Daily Mail said, "It's one thing writing a critique of the Royal Family. ... 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." Someone also called information in Omid Scobie's book, "just plain wrong."

Since Scobie has been nicknamed "Meghan's mouthpiece," it's believed he's swayed to the Sussexes' side. Another Daily Mail article discussing "Endgame" referenced insiders who believe that his claims against the royal family are unfairly, brutally biased. One stated that the book was weighted in favor of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, asserting that they were written about in a better light than royals such as Prince William and King Charles.

Scobie was interviewed by Marie Claire about "Endgame" and defended his reporting. When he asked his response to people calling him "too biased in favor of the Sussexes," Scobie said, "I wish it wasn't this way." He said journalists who write about the royals always choose someone to focus on and added, "And I have never seen anyone else accused of being friends with, having a direct line to, so I find it very sloppy, and it's obviously just completely untrue."