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Omid Scobie

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Omid Scobie
Scobie in 2022
Scobie in 2022
Born (1981-07-04) 4 July 1981 (age 43)
Wales
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • non-fiction writer
Alma materLondon College of Communication
SubjectBritish royal family

Omid Scobie (born 4 July 1981)[a] is a British journalist and writer best known as co-author of the book Finding Freedom and author of the book Endgame. Scobie's work focuses on the British royal family.

Early life

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Scobie was born in Wales and grew up in Oxford with his younger brother and parents, an Iranian social worker mother and a Scottish marketing director father. He attended Magdalen College School, a private school in Oxford, and then the sixth form at Cherwell School, also in Oxford. He went on to study journalism at the London College of Communication.[1][2][3]

Career

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After a brief stint on a British celebrity magazine, Scobie became the European bureau chief on the American celebrity and entertainment magazine Us Weekly, where he stayed for a decade. Part of his role was reporting on royals. He became royal editor-at-large at Harper's Bazaar and the royal contributor at ABC News, appearing regularly on Good Morning America and hosting the network's royal podcast, the HeirPod.[4]

In 2020, Scobie co-authored a book about Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, with American journalist Carolyn Durand. Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family was published in August 2020 by HarperCollins.[5] The book was written with the Duchess's contribution through a third-party source.[6] Within five days it had sold more than 31,000 copies in the United Kingdom and had secured the number one spot for hardback non-fiction on The Sunday Times bestseller list.[7] In August 2021, a paperback edition of the book was released with a new epilogue covering events of the previous year, including Meghan and Harry's TV interview with Oprah Winfrey.[8]

November 2023 saw the publication of Scobie's next book, Endgame, in which he aims criticism at the British royal family as an institution as well as at individual members of the family.[9] BBC News's verdict on the book was that it covered familiar territory and felt somewhat dated. The reviewer said: "The Endgame of the title suggests an institution that's in serious trouble. But this won't be the book to sink it."[10] The Dutch edition of Endgame was recalled after it included the names of King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales as the two royals who were alleged to have asked questions about Harry and Meghan's future child's skin colour.[11] In an TV interview on This Morning, Scobie said that he did not include the two names in his version of the book. He said that he had anticipated the "heated and controversial" public reaction to his book, and that he had been subjected to "unfair attacks" and "character assassination".[12] A week later he wrote in the i that, unbeknownst to him at the time, a draft of Endgame that had not yet been cleared by lawyers and contained the names had been sent to the Dutch publisher so that work could be started on translation, on the understanding that the translation would be updated to reflect the final version of the book. The Dutch publisher Xander Uitgevers disagreed with Scobie's account, calling it "factually incorrect".[13]

In the United States the Endgame spent just one week on The New York Times hardback nonfiction bestseller list (at number 12), while in the United Kingdom it was reported to have sold 6,488 copies in its first five days, compared to 31,000 for Finding Freedom in its first five days.[14][15]

Personal life

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As of 2023, Scobie was living in a rented house in the Hollywood Hills, having previously lived in East London. In an interview with The Times in November 2023, he said that he was "hopelessly single" with only his French Bulldog, Yoshi, for company.[1][2][3]

Scobie once claimed in an interview to be six years younger than he really was, but in November 2023 he said: "I'm 42. I work in an industry where I'm surrounded by people who are, let's say, conservative with telling their age, particularly in television," adding that he had a "little insecurity" about turning 40.[16][17]

Bibliography

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  • Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family (2020) ISBN 978-0063046108
  • Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival (2023) ISBN 978-0063258662

Notes

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  1. ^ Scobie stated in an interview with Tatler that he was born on 4 July,[1] and an article in The Times on 28 November 2023 stated that he was 42.[3] This means that Scobie was born on 4 July 1981.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jenkins, David (31 August 2021). "Palace Confidential: Omid Scobie spills the tea on his relationship with the Duchess of Sussex". Tatler. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Strick, Katie (27 November 2023). "Omid Scobie: the baby-faced ex-Tabloid reporter who became 'Meghan's mouthpiece'". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Chappell, Peter (28 November 2023). "Who is Omid Scobie? The author who insists 'Meghan is not my friend'". The Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Omid Scobie Knows How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Feel". Town&Country. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  5. ^ Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand (11 August 2020). Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780063046108. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  6. ^ Nicholl, Katie (18 November 2020). "Meghan Markle Admits She Really Did Help with Finding Freedom". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  7. ^ Coke, Hope (19 August 2020). "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's biography tops UK bestseller list". Tatler. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  8. ^ Petter, Olivia (31 August 2021). "New chapter in the Sussexes' controversial biography sheds light on how they spent the past year". The Independent. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  9. ^ Coughlan, Sean (28 November 2023). "Omid Scobie book Endgame promises to detail Royal Family turmoil". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  10. ^ Coughlan, Sean (28 November 2023). "Omid Scobie royal book: More like Action Replay than Endgame". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. ^ Weaver, Matthew; Davies, Caroline (30 November 2023). "Royals and race: inquiry under way into naming of Charles and Catherine in new book". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Exclusive: Omid Scobie speaks out about royal book 'translation error'". ITV. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  13. ^ Gregory, James (8 December 2023). "Omid Scobie: Endgame draft text to blame for royal naming error". BBC News. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Hardcover nonfiction". The New York Times. 17 December 2023.
  15. ^ "King Charles and royals put on united front after Endgame claims". The Times. 5 December 2023.
  16. ^ Griffiths, Robbie (30 November 2023). "Endgame author Omid Scobie interview: Meghan, Harry, Kate and why the royals are tearing themselves apart". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  17. ^ Pullman, Laura (25 November 2023). "Omid Scobie speaks out: Harry, Meghan and the royals in crisis". The Times. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
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