Omid Scobie insists royal book is a ‘separate universe’ despite Harry and Meghan parallels

Royal biographer Omid Scobie has ventured into fiction with his debut novel Royal Spin, which he describes as “a real mix of things true and not true.”

The 44-year-old journalist collaborated with young adult writer Robin Benway on the romantic comedy, which follows a spirited American publicist who falls for a British duke.

Observers have drawn parallels between the storyline and the real-life romance of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, though Mr Scobie has pushed back against such comparisons.

Speaking on Good Morning America, the Finding Freedom author stated: “We really wanted to make sure that this felt like a completely separate universe.

“We didn’t want someone to be like, ‘That’s Harry and Meghan! That’s the Andrew situation.’ We wanted it to live in its own space.”

Mr Scobie added: “It’s a real mix of things true and not true.”

Despite Mr Scobie’s insistence on a separate fictional universe, commentators have identified numerous apparent real-world parallels within the narrative.

The protagonist Lauren Morgan’s troubled relationship with her father has been highlighted by royal commentators, who view it as a thinly-veiled nod to Meghan’s estrangement from Thomas Markle.

The fictional heroine’s aversion to “pantyhose”, an American term for tights, also mirrors the Duchess of Sussex’s own remarks to Bloomberg last year, when she described being required to wear nude hosiery as a working royal as feeling “a little bit inauthentic.”

Another storyline involves a royal spouse displaying “a highly offensive racist vase” at an NHS luncheon for Caribbean workers.

This has been widely interpreted as a reference to Princess Michael of Kent, who apologised in 2017 for wearing a blackamoor brooch to Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas banquet whilst Meghan was present.

The novel’s romantic lead, the Duke of Exeter, named Jasper, is portrayed as a “misunderstood maverick” whose dialogue contains striking echoes of Prince Harry’s own public statements.

In one passage, Jasper tells Lauren: “I know how this works. They bring you in, build you up, then offer you as a sacrifice when someone with a higher rank makes a mistake. It is the playbook that works, and they use it every single time.”

These words bear notable resemblance to accusations Harry made during the Sussexes’ 2022 Netflix documentary series, where he alleged Palace communications teams would “trade” negative stories between offices.

The duke claimed there was “leaking” and “planting of stories” within the royal hierarchy, with offices “working against each other.”

Neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace responded to those claims at the time.

Mr Scobie revealed that his 12 years working as a royal correspondent provided rich material for the book, having kept detailed notes and diaries throughout his career.

“I brought a lot of my own experiences into the characters,” he explained, including the protagonist who transitions from the White House to lead Buckingham Palace’s press operation.

The author drew comparisons to Emily in Paris, noting that while audiences have seen young women relocate to European countries, the specific “culture clash within a traditional institution” remains unexplored territory.

Co-author Ms Benway described the subject matter as possessing almost Shakespearean potential, telling Marie Claire: “It’s family dynamics. It’s so not universal and yet extremely universal, the effects of your family and how does it affect the generations after that.”

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