SARAH VINE: If Harry and Meghan don’t denounce the poison in Omid Scobie’s new book, we can only assume they endorse it

Despite all the provocations, Buckingham Palace has so far kept a dignified silence about the latest ‘revelations’ in Omid Scobie’s new oeuvre, Endgame, which finally hit bookstores yesterday after weeks of carefully orchestrated ‘leaks’.

That is undoubtedly the wisest course of action for the king. A confrontation with this absurd Sussex sycophant would only lend credence to his claims, dragging the royal family even deeper into Harry and Meghan’s never-ending psychodrama.

Whether that will change now that the Dutch edition appears to have ‘accidentally’ revealed the identity of the alleged ‘royal racist’, who allegedly commented on the color of baby Archie’s skin, remains to be seen.

But when it comes to the Duke and Duchess themselves, they do need to make it known where they stand on this puppet of theirs.

Because the more reticent they are about the truth of their relationship with Scobie, the more credence they give to the idea that the poison in his book ultimately leads back to them.

Harry and Meghan’s silence is essentially a confirmation of his status as their ‘unofficial mouthpiece’ – and, by extension, a confirmation of all the petty, vitriolic and malicious accusations he makes.

In no particular order: The Princess of Wales was loved by the late Queen for her supposedly biddable nature, which led to her being described as ‘Katie Keen’. That’s not a nickname I’ve ever heard applied to Kate – although before her marriage to Prince William she was rather cruelly described as ‘Waity Katie’, giving credence to the idea that she had it much easier than Meghan.

There is more. The Princess of Wales is apparently only a ‘part-time royal’ due to the fact that she enjoys spending time with her three young children during the school holidays.

She’s also apparently terrified of doing anything other than “grinning photos,” which is a bit rich considering all the Duchess of Sussex seems to do these days is… grinning photos.

And at least the Princess of Wales is doing that for a good cause, while the Duchess of Sussex seems to spend most of her time posing next to famous friends. But let’s not split hairs.

My point is that this nonsense has to stop. Either the Duke and Duchess denounce this effluent and its source, Scobie, or the general public on both sides of the Atlantic will have no choice but to conclude that, in the parlance of American political campaigns (and make no mistake, this is political). , they fully endorse Scobie’s message.

Why they would associate themselves – even tacitly – with such a person is anyone’s guess. Perhaps because, after attacking the royal family head-on via their interview with Oprah Winfrey, their Netflix documentary and Harry’s memoir Spare, the world still seems somewhat skeptical of their one-sided account.

Perhaps Scobie’s book is a final roll of the Sussex dice, a desperate – and increasingly hysterical – attempt to reclaim the narrative of the War of the Windsors, which has made them seem increasingly redundant in recent months.

Because the truth is, the royal family is doing just fine without them.

In an ideal world, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have remained working royals, and they would undoubtedly have made positive contributions. But since they left, making sure to destroy the place on their way out, the institution they so despise and mock has not turned to dust as they had hoped. In fact, it seems that it has only gone from strength to strength, despite perhaps one of the biggest setbacks to have befallen it in decades: the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

While Meghan and Harry groan from their Montecito mansion, the remaining royals have quietly continued their work and apparently grown closer together in adversity.

The king and his eldest son – who, it is said, have not always seen eye to eye – seem much more attuned to each other. I dare say this has something to do with the fact that they have both been on the receiving end of Prince Harry’s wrath, as have their husbands.

If in the past the Prince of Wales felt that his loyalties were in any way divided between his father and his younger brother, the latter’s abhorrent behavior has paid the price.

In particular, the way Prince Harry has attacked both Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales – almost portraying them as the ugly sisters of Meghan’s Cinderella – has infuriated both men, and understandably so.

It may also have played a role in bringing Camilla and Kate closer together. There is a new warmth and ease between them, a camaraderie even, that was clearly evident at this year’s Remembrance Sunday service in the Cenotaph.

As two women whose support is essential to the success and well-being of their husbands, they not only have a shared experience, but (unlike Meghan) they also understand exactly what is required of them – and carry out the task with grace , dignity and admirable consistency.

And this is perhaps the crux of this endless sniping – straight from the horse’s mouth or through officers like Scobie – that continues to emerge from Camp Sussex despite the passage of time.

Remarkable when you think about it, but it’s been almost four years since they left, demanding their privacy be respected while simultaneously invading that of almost everyone else in their family, including the late Queen. By now, the Sussexes could certainly have moved on – after all, they have the freedom and independence they wanted. But it seems like they just can’t.

Why? I think the answer is patently obvious. After storming out, in their arrogance and complete lack of self-awareness, they believed that the royal family would never survive.

They suspected that without their stardust it would become a tarnished, boring, old institution that no one cared about.

The terrible reality for them is that the exact opposite has happened. The British monarchy is flourishing: revived even. The king has solemnly stepped into his mother’s shoes, and he and his queen have confounded the naysayers by showing themselves to be hardworking and industrious.

The Prince and Princess of Wales haven’t put a foot wrong – and less prominent royals like Sophie – the Duchess of Edinburgh – have also done their bit.

Everyone is doing just fine without poor little me’s Duke and Duchess, thank you very much. They must be spitting nails. After all, it wasn’t meant to be that way. They would ride off into the sunset and without them the whole thing would collapse.

But it didn’t turn out that way. Hence perhaps these final, desperate, laughable character assassinations of their ‘mouthpiece’, Scobie. Are the Sussexes trying to stay relevant? If so, no one is interested. The world has moved on and we all have better things to do.

The only people this book will harm are the Sussexes themselves. Not just because it makes them look like some bitter former people, jealous of those who through hard work and perseverance succeeded where they failed.

But also – and this is the sad part – because the longer they continue to silently support these attacks, the deeper the rift between Prince Harry and his family becomes. And the less likely it is that a reconciliation will ever take place.