King Charles was ‘cold and brief’ in ‘awkward’ phone call with Prince Harry after the Duke reached out to him following release of memoir Spare, Omid Scobie claims in Endgame

Prince Harry called his father Charles following the release of his memoir Spare but their conversation was ‘awkward’ and the King was ‘cold and brief’, a new book claimed today.

Omid Scobie‘s book Endgame quoted an unnamed friend of the Duke of Sussex who said that Charles was not ‘open to any proper dialogue’.

A friend of Harry’s had encouraged him to call Charles after the book came out in January, which the author said followed months of the King ‘keeping his distance’.

Mr Scobie wrote: ‘Despite the many opportunities to discuss his grievances ahead of the publication of the book, Charles instead chose to keep his distance for months.

‘Harry and his father swapped a few words over Christmas 2022, but it wasn’t until after the January 10, 2023, release of the memoir that they had their first proper conversation.

King Charles III and Prince Harry at Charles’s 70th birthday celebration in London in May 2018

Prince Harry on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his book on January 10, 2023 

‘Encouraged by a close friend, the Duke of Sussex reached out to Charles by phone to try to discuss some of the unresolved issues between them.’

Spare by Prince Harry came out in January

Mr Scobie then quotes a friend of Harry’s, saying: ‘It was an awkward conversation, but he knew if he didn’t make those first steps, there would never be any progress.

‘There were no raised voices, no arguments… but the King was cold and brief rather than open to any proper dialogue.’

Mr Scobie said the lack of ‘significant resolution or outcome’ from the discussion showed that Charles had ‘once again wasted an opportunity to take the upper hand and let bygones be bygones for the sake of family harmony.’

Mr Scobie – who has been dubbed ‘Meghan’s mouthpiece’ – went on later in the book to refer to Harry’s solo attendance at the King’s Coronation in May being a ‘striking reminder of the missed opportunity the monarch had to bring his entire family together before the public witnessed this royal milestone’.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC’s Good Morning America today

Prince Harry leaves Westminster Abbey following the Coronation of King Charles III on May 6

The author added that this ‘wasn’t for lack of effort on Harry’s side’.

Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame

He said the Duke ‘made it clear to his father after the January release of his memoir that he hoped to have a proper conversation about events of the past, a chance for both sides to take accountability where necessary’.

But Mr Scobie described Charles as ‘stubbornly hard to pin down’, adding that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle were ‘unclear’ for the first few months of the year about whether they were even invited to the Coronation.

Charles told his son ‘I… haven’t decided’ during a phone call in early February initiated by Harry, according to Mr Scobie who added that Charles only made a final decision in late March.

Harry was reported to have secured a four-book deal with Penguin Random House worth £29million in June 2021.

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

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

Spare was his first book and contained a series of claims such as Harry saying William physically attacked him in a row over Meghan.

It also contained an allegation that William and their father Charles confronted him after Prince Philip’s funeral ‘looking for a fight’.

Harry also alleged that William and Kate urged him to wear his infamous Nazi fancy dress outfit.

In addition, the Duke revealed his father’s medical ailments and the fact the King still carries around his favourite teddy bear.

He cast William as his ‘arch-nemesis’, Queen Camilla as a ‘wicked stepmother’ and Charles as an emotionally-stunted and ineffectual ‘old man’.