Prince William ‘set the wheels in motion’ in stripping Andrew of his royal duties because he thought the family was being ‘too soft’ with duke’s sex assault case ‘casting a long shadow over the entire institution’, Omid Scobie claims in new book Endgame

Prince William is the person who ‘set the wheels in motion’ to strip Prince Andrew of his royal duties because he thought his father and grandmother were being ‘too soft’, Omid Scobie has claimed.

The then-Duke of Cambridge is alleged to have been the driving force behind Andrew’s banishment from public life, even going so far as to speak directly with the Queen about the best course of action, Scobie writes in his new book Endgame.

It was a move that eventually saw Andrew stripped of his military affiliations and patronages in January 2022 after his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and accusations of sexual assault against him came to the public eye.

The author, who is known for his close association with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, writes that the disgraced royal’s sex assault case still casts a shadow over the institution and ‘can still inflict considerable damage to the monarchy’.

Scobie even quotes one anonymous source who is close to the Royal Family as saying it would be ‘foolish to assume that Andrew won’t bring further shame… it’s his specialty’.

Before Prince Andrew was asked to step down from royal duties, the author says King Charles and Prince William (pictured in September 2022) grappled with the best course of action

A source close to King Charles told Omid Scobie: ‘You’d find it hard to believe but [Charles lay] awake many nights worrying about Andrew’

Scobie claims Prince William felt the Queen would be ‘soft’ on Prince Andrew unless he voiced his concerns directly to her

However, he adds that while Charles continues to support his brother by funding his private security detail, William is not likely to be so charitable when he becomes King.

He writes: ‘While King Charles has, so far, shown no inclination of conclusively stopping his support for his wayward brother, Andrew would be foolish to think that William will unquestionably support his uncle in the same way.

‘It’s fair to say, the next King is the one in the family who inherited Prince Philip’s assertiveness when it comes to protecting the Crown. Until then, though, Andrew remains a wild card and one that can still inflict considerable damage to the monarchy’.

Scobie opines that Andrew’s close association with Charles may ‘end up coming back to bite the King and the monarchy’ if more stories from the past continue to ‘trickle out’.

In the book, which hits the shelves in the UK on Tuesday, Scobie reveals how Prince William and King Charles grappled over the best course of action to deal with Andrew.

In the book a source close to King Charles is quoted as saying: ‘You’d find it hard to believe but [Charles lay] awake many nights worrying about [Andrew].’

According to the author, Prince William was ‘baffled’ by why his father was agonising over the decision – and wanted him to take decisive action. 

A source said: ‘William [doesn’t’] think his father is competent enough, quite frankly.

‘Though they share similar passions and interests, their style of leadership is completely different’. 

Scobie claims Prince William felt the Queen would be ‘soft’ on Prince Andrew unless he voiced his concerns directly to her.

The author says a family friend told him that Andrew was the ‘one who would make [the Queen] laugh, keep her company, and because he was always a little bit lost, she coddled him’. 

The author claims that Prince William put the plan to oust Prince Andrew into action with his private secretary as the late Queen and the then Prince Charles were ‘not ready’ to start the process themselves.

As Prince Philip was no longer there to ‘take charge’, Prince William consulted his team about ‘the Andrew problem’ and then set up a meeting with his grandmother and her private secretary in her residential quarters at Windsor.

After allegedly speaking with Prince William for over an hour, the Queen then phoned Charles in Scotland to tell him that they needed to strip Andrew of his titles and duties.

The author claims it was a’ genuinely sad’ moment for the Queen and a ‘gut punch’ for the family following Prince Philip’s death. 

Prince Andrew resigned from public duties in May 2020 before he was then stripped of his military titles and patronages by the Queen in 2022. 

Elsewhere in the book, Scobie claims William admired the Queen’s political neutrality and wants to mirror her reign more than Charles’.

What’s more, a source close to the Prince of Wales claims he sees Charles as a ‘transitional’ King – who will ‘pave the way’ for his reign.

In a scathing chapter dedicated to the future Queen, he branded Kate the monarchy’s ‘last shiny thing for many years to come’ and claims her workload is lower than other senior members of the Firm, and saying that she’s ‘technically a part time working royal’.

Known for his sympathetic coverage of Harry and Meghan, Scobie added that Kate isn’t known for ‘leadership and outgoing nature’ like ‘Meghan’, who was ‘another shimmering ornament in the royal family tree’ before she stepped down.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

Harry and Meghan’s ‘cheerleader-in-chief’ Omid Scobie took aim at The Princess of Wales in his new book Endgame, which has been published in Australia. Kate is pictured at a recent event

This, according to Scobie’s recollection, meant coverage of Meghan’s engagements during her short time as a working royal,  were ‘far less about fashion choices and more about her work or her role in the Firm’.

Scobie also claims that Kate ‘does not plan to increase her workload for 10-15 years’, or until her children reach adulthood,  and added that she earned the nickname ‘Katie Keen’, because palace press release mitigate her doing less by saying she is ‘keen to learn’.

In a clear swipe, Scobie writes Kate’s lifestyle is something most parents could ‘only dream of’ and that Palace aides were afraid to push her do to anything that ‘makes her uncomfortable’ before the Queen died.

He adds that the future queen has been through five different private secretaries in six years, because they all found the role ‘uninspiring and frustrating’.

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.

These include that William was involved in ‘things that have gone out about his own brother’ and 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 other 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.

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’.