Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival

After breaking away from the royal family in 2020, Harry and Meghan set up their lives in Montecito, California. The road there was a difficult one, littered with ruptured relationships as well as hasty deals and decisions to secure their finances. However, they believe this was the right decision due to the events that took place following their departure.

Harry and Meghan were in the UK for a series of engagements in September 2022 when the Queen passed. Beforehand, when the Queen’s health appeared to be in a critical state, Harry’s father had summoned him to Balmoral. As his brother refused to respond to his messages, Harry was forced to secure transport there on his own. As a result, he arrived much later than the rest of his family—and only after the public announcement about her death. Buckingham Palace refused to delay the announcement until Harry had been told personally.

There was minimal communication between the Palace and the Sussexes following the Queen’s death. Harry and Meghan were requested to be at a walkabout along with William and Kate at extremely short notice. Despite this and the acrimony between the two couples, the group nevertheless carried out their duties as consummate professionals. However, Harry had to fight the Palace to be allowed to wear his military uniform at a vigil organized for the Queen’s grandchildren, even though Andrew had been allowed to wear his full uniform at another vigil two days prior.

For a good portion of his life, Harry has been painted as a caricature of himself in the media, and for this reason, he is determined to win back his story. One of the ways he is attempting to do so is through his legal battles with various newspapers regarding both libel and illegal news-gathering. Because his family members don’t want to damage their relationships with the press, Harry was asked to drop the charges. However, he is determined to see the cases through and has joined forces with other celebrities to fight the papers. Harry views changing the media as his life’s work, particularly encouraging “the creation of a more ethical and reliable press” (215). Scobie discloses that he himself has testified in the Mirror News Group case, where, as a college intern he heard senior staff, including then editor-in-chief Piers Morgan, discuss phone hacking.

A few years following their departure from the royal family, the Sussexes' plate is full. They released Spare and their docuseries because they wanted to set the record straight, but they are now done with that chapter of their lives and are ready to move on. After their funding was abruptly cut off, they rushed to sign some deals to secure finances. A multimillion-dollar podcast deal with Spotify eventually fell through, and they still have no major anchoring projects for the foundation, Archewell. However, they are slowly finding their rhythm and working on projects close to their heart, including scripted projects for Netflix, charitable endeavors, and Meghan’s own business.

While Harry and Meghan are genuinely happier and closer than ever, some things still hurt, especially concerning their children. Upon the Queen’s passing, Archie and Lilibet should have automatically become “Prince” and “Princess.” However, it took the Palace six months to update the titles on the website, despite Wiliam’s and Kate’s titles having been updated in September 2022. Harry and Meghan see how their children are treated differently than the others. However, both have accepted that neither apology nor accountability may ever come from the royal family, and so are ready to move on.

The royal courtier’s work has not changed much from its predecessors’ roles in the 16th and 17th centuries. The job description is still to “diligently guide, protect, and serve their monarchs” (223), even if it means using deception and guile. Because of the nature of the work, the courtiers have earned many monikers. Harry referred to three specific courtiers as “The Bee. The Fly. And the Wasp” (224) in Spare. Princess Diana called them “the Men in Gray” (224), while Meghan and her friends referred to them as the “Palace Vipers.”

“Courtier” is a broad term that can refer to all sorts of palace aides. However, it is more commonly linked to press officials and private secretaries. Individuals in these roles walk a tight balance between being liked by their principals and being able to persuade them to do difficult things. They are responsible for reputation management of the royals and have played significant roles throughout important moments in history.

“The Bee” is Queen Elizabeth II’s former private secretary, Sir Edward Young. He was fiercely protective of the Queen, especially during the Harry and Meghan saga. Harry accused Young of gatekeeping the Queen from Harry. One opinion about Young is that he was an “uninspired” private secretary and partly responsible for the Harry and Meghan fiasco. Others believe him to be deeply committed to protecting the interests of the Crown.

“The Wasp” is Clive Alderman, Charles’s private secretary, who was instrumental in getting rid of Young’s predecessor, Lord Christoper Geidt. Geidt was accomplished and professional, and a great favorite of the Queen’s. He didn’t think that Charles had it in him to take over the reign from the Queen, so he actively blocked any chance of an early transition of power. With Andrew and Alderton’s help, Charles eventually managed to convince the Queen to replace Geidt with Young in 2017. Many in the family considered this the Queen’s biggest mistake, believing that Geidt could have better steered the family through the Sussex crisis.

Not all courtiers are manipulative and power-hungry; some are efficient, ethical, and universally well-liked. Samantha Cohen started in the communications department and eventually rose to be the Queen’s assistant private secretary. She filled in this role for Harry as well in 2018 and is credited with the success of the Sussexes’ 2018 tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga.

However, some courtiers enjoy getting involved in dishonorable activities, and Simon Case—“The Fly”—is a prime example. After having played secretary to more than one past prime minister (David Cameron, Theresa May), he was poached by William in 2018. Case saw the cracks in the relationship between William and Harry, and he used it to elevate William by recasting his image as the responsible and industrious one between the two. Despite several mistakes, William’s image was successfully established this way; however, the price was an irreparable wedge between the brothers.

Case eventually left the Palace and rejoined government service, working with Boris Johnson and later Rishi Sunak. He continued to be self-serving in these roles, too. During the “Partygate” scandal, Johnson claimed Case advised him that COVID protocol was being followed during the rule-breaking social gatherings held by Downing Street during the pandemic, but Case completely refuted these claims. Scobie notes that Case is a reminder of how “Svengalis” look to control and exploit. Relying on deception for image control may bring victory in the short run, but the truth will eventually come out.