This is Later with Lee Matthews The Lee Matthews Podcast. More of what you
hear weekday afternoons on the Drive. Almond Scoby is a London based journalist,
author of Harper's Bizarre, editor at Large at Yahoo. We had him on
last with his New York Times best selling biography Duke and Duchess of Sussex Finding
Freedom. His newest creation is called Endgame, Inside the Royal Family and the
Monarchy's fight for survival. Good to have Almond Scoby back on again. Hi,
It's good to talk to you again. Lee. It's been a long
time. Yeah. You know this book has saidainly caused already ruffled a few
feathers since its release. You know what was so interesting to me was writing
a book without the sort of feel of favor of having to maintain a relationship
with the Palace. I have covered the world since twenty eleven. I sometimes
have felt over those years that the best stories have had to be sat on
in order to maintain access, and so after the Queen's death, it felt
like the right time to sort of pull back and assess the story, but
also tell sides of it that I believe that hadn't been told before, and
this isn't just dirty laundry, This isn't just temper tantrums, is it.
No? I think I really wanted to kind of differentiate, to kind of
establish a difference between the Row soap opera and what is ultimately sort of like
a constitutional matter. At the same time, you know, this is an
establishment that sits at the heart of the British nation and across the Commonwealth realms,
and so listen. I spent a lot of time covering the death of
Queen Elizabeth, and one of the things that really stood out to me during
that time was the fact that we were celebrating the fact that she had always
risen above the fray, but also upheld and line of morals, ethics and
values that I then questioned, was that the same with the current working royals.
Well, I think you and I talked about that last time I had
you on. Queen Elizabeth has had always a sense of even though she may
not have been born with it, because she really in her childhood had no
idea she was going to be queen up until you know, maybe her mid
teens and later, but she had that sense of no blessed oblige do any
of the children of Queen Elizabeth have that same strong grounded sense. Yeah,
it was very interesting speaking with the people that had spent so much time with
the Queen during her seventy years on the throne, and the one thing that
was sort of universally shared by all was the fact that she never cared about
the polls, She never cared about the press coverage, She never cared about
what people thought of her. It was always about the Crown as a whole
institution at large, and that was what she was there to serve as well
as the nation. And unfortunately, I don't feel the same can be said
when you look at perhaps the agendas of King Charles or Queen ca Miller or
even Prince William, it seems to be sort of currently a lineup of individuals
who are operating in silo. It's focused on personal pr agendas and sort of
solo battles against the press or their own public image, which is very different
to what we had seen with the Queen, and ultimately that has had a
negative impact on the institution at large. You know, it has pushed certain
individuals out, such as Harry and Meghan, but it has also raised questions
over whether this is now an institution that has modernized, that is still a
reflection of modern day British values, but whether it has lost its way somewhat.
And Batist doesn't get into whether the family should last or not. I
want to leave that up to the reader. I do want to make it
clear that there are things that can change and be done in order to create
a better future for the Royal Family. In Game Inside the Royal Family and
the Monarchy's Fight for Survival, Ole mid Scobee is the author longtime chronicler of
the Royal Family. I couldn't help notice at the coronation of King Charles how
wretchedly unhappy he looked. Was he that unhappy? It was very interesting,
Given that King Charles has been the longest role in turning the majority of his
life, you would have thought it would have also been the happiest day of
his life. And you know, it has been a kind of long running
scene that I've seen throughout the first year of his reign. In fact,
I talk in the book about how even some of the aides around him feel
that just a year in he's already a lit fed up and bored by some
of the sort of hum drum of the job, sort of that famous red
box of paperwork that he has to deal with every day. The admin that
the Queen regularly relished has kind of taken away some of the funds from the
job from him. You know, the Prince of Wales, he was a
rule breaker. He was able to do his own thing. He was able
to sort of fly the flag for his environmentalism and some of the things that
really kind of like pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable for a while or
not. But it's what made him special, and I think we've had to
see some of that pulled back on in order to kind of carry out what
is a very kind of administrative role. You know, often the personality,
the lively stuff comes from the surrounding family members, and so it's been an
adjustment to him. But I would also say at the same time, he
is steering the ships steadily. You know, you can't fault him for that
first year. I definitely has been I think kind of a reality check for
him as well. The big job perhaps wasn't as exciting as he put one's
thought. And how about the Duke and Duchess of Sessex. I mean they
seem to be out trying to redefine what their role is. At the same
time. Yeah, you know, a lot of people have suggested that perhaps
this is a book about Harry and Meganall this is the follow ups my last
one, and the couple don't even appear until I think page one hundred and
forty six in the book, and I make it very clear that to the
Royal story today, the couple are essentially irrelevant. You know, they have
built the autonomous life that they wanted in California and as a result that is
completely separate from the Royal institution. But I also think that their experiences and
their stories within the Royal fold do serve as some great examples when it comes
to those discussions about whether the institution has modernized, where there it's still upholding
certain kind of values and ethics and morals that the queen famously did. And
you know, listen, I think Harry and Meghan definitely have moved on from
telling their stories about royal days, and I think that that will suit them
well, given that they were dangerously close to becoming permanently synonymous with the Royal
soap opera. But I think they do also leave a void behind in an
institution that now lacks diversity and kind of modern representation, Speaking of which Catherine
seems to have settled into the into her role rather well. Yeah, you
know, I talk in the book about who the Princess of Wales will Caate
is today, and you know, I think when you compare her to the
other family members, she is the one that has managed something that none of
the others have, which is to maintain a certain level of mystique and mystery.
We still to this day don't know much about what Kate thinks, what
her opinions are on things, unless it's carefully released by the palace that has
been intentional to create that stately detachment that we really only knew Queen Elizabeth a
second for. She's managed to successfully do it, and I think that that
is kind of the making of a successful royal, to be almost the blank
canvas that you can allow the public to reject whatever image or need or want
or expectation they want onto you. And so she's done a great job in
that respect. But at the same time, I think we also live in
a day where we do want transparency and we do want authenticity from our public
figures, and so I also think I talk about in the book some of
my favorite moments that I had spent with Case over the years covering the world.
Some of the kind of life of hearted moments, such as being on
the in India looking at Rhino Rhino's sources with the time she bursts into fits
of giggles away from the cameras. Those are the moments I think that the
nation and the world could do with seeing absolutely bit more of. Well,
that's what I was getting at is that she seems very comfortable in that role
as well. Om At scobee. He is a London based journalist and has
written a new book, Endgame and The Inside Royal Inside the Royal family and
the Monarchy's fight for survival. You be the judge if they will survive.
And thank you for joining us, Omit scobi turnently, thanks for listening to
Later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The
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