Nothing offends the Daily Mail more than British people moving to America and finding success and happiness here. Nothing brings out the snide contempt of the Mail’s editors and writers more than that – it’s not just Prince Harry and Meghan, it’s any actor, any writer, any royal reporter. Anyway, if you read Omid Scobie’s Endgame, you know that he absolutely burned a lot of bridges with that book, and he did so knowing that he would have to move on from his royal-reporter gigs. The British media – especially the Mail – has been obsessed with Scobie’s bridge-burning and move to LA. They’ve been keeping tabs on him and they want everyone to know that they’re watching everything he does in LA. From the Mail:
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to release their ‘happy holidays’ card last week they did not do it through their phalanx of PR lackeys, nor even on the website of their charity, the Archewell Foundation. Instead, the first image of the achingly woke card – featuring photos of the couple’s philanthropic work alongside a blurry shot of them with their children – was released by their longtime friend and hagiographer Omid Scobie on his X social media account. For many, it was proof that Scobie, the author of two gushing books about Harry and Meghan, remains very much in favour with the couple.
Today, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Scobie (dubbed ‘Scobie-Doo’ by his detractors because of his Sussex sycophancy) has moved permanently to Los Angeles, meaning he is only a two-hour drive from the Sussexes’ 16-bathroom mansion in Montecito. Insiders say the 43-year-old is working on a book and TV project whose inspiration bears more than a passing similarity to Meghan’s turbulent history with the Royal Family before she and her husband upped sticks and quit the UK for California.
The combined projects, both called Royal Spin, revolve around a glamorous and feisty American publicist who leaves her high-powered job in Washington DC to work in the communications department at Buckingham Palace. According to a source at media giant Universal, which secured the rights to the show for a reported seven-figure sum, the series is ‘Emily in Paris crossed with The Crown’.
The source said: ‘Let’s just say the plot isn’t a million miles away from Meghan’s account of what happened to her when she joined the Royal Family, just substitute ‘publicist’ for ‘actress’. You have this plucky woman who enters the Palace and comes up against the ‘men in grey suits’ who are stuck in Victorian times. The heroine is a thoroughly modern woman, a feminist, much like Meghan sees herself, yet she is stymied at every turn by stuffy royal aides. She gets stuck in the middle of culture clashes and finds herself very much a fish out of water.’
But, of course, in Scobie’s fictionalised version of events, the feisty American import wins over the hearts and minds of everyone she meets and ultimately triumphs over the Establishment ‘baddies’.
Scobie travelled to LA earlier this year to ‘seek his fortune’, intending to sound out opportunities in the entertainment industry. At the time he was living in a luxury flat in London’s Canary Wharf but, according to one associate, was seeking the ‘Hollywood dream’. They said: ‘Omid already had a gig as a regular talking head on [TV show] Good Morning America but he’s ambitious and always dreamed of having a Hollywood career. He went out to LA to take meetings. He took a lot of meetings.’
According to his Instagram account, the former Heat magazine reporter initially rented a house in the Hollywood Hills but, the MoS can reveal, decided to make the move permanent once he sealed his Universal deal. He has told friends he plans to live in LA for a minimum of three to five years. Today he is ‘living the dream’ in a luxury apartment block steps from Sunset Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood.
We heard about Scobie’s show over the summer, when there was a bidding war for the rights to Royal Spin. It’s funny that they’re claiming this is a fictionalized version of Meghan’s story – Meghan didn’t come to the UK to work in the palace’s comms office, she came from America to marry a prince, and she was abused by the racist Victorian snobs working within the palace structure. Scobie’s framing is actually pretty unique and funny, and I think the set-up for the show is great. He’s also been living in LA for the better part of two years, hasn’t he? Anyway, Scobie tweeted this, after the Mail published this story:
Just because it’s a catchy headline doesn’t make it true. So let’s make this clear: Royal Spin’s story and characters have nothing to do with Meghan. As a journalist I covered the Duchess fairly, but it’s so boring to keep calling her my friend (not true) or link her to my work.
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) December 23, 2024
Photos courtesy of Omid Scobie’s IG.
