The great escape! Omid Scobie is spotted in LA after his book Endgame reignited race row and launched ‘vicious’ attacks on Kate, King Charles and Prince William

Omid Scobie has been photographed in LA after his explosive book Endgame caused a storm after reigniting a racing royale.

It also reiterated a row that first came to light in 2021 when the Sussexes gave a tell-all interview to US journalist Oprah Winfrey, in which they claimed members of the royal family had raised concerns about how Prince Archie’s skin color looked would see if he was born.

Although Scobie insisted before publication that he would not name the members of the royal family who allegedly made these comments, the Dutch version of the book appeared to name the two royals at the center of the accusations: King Charles and the Princess of Wales. .

When the royal family was plunged into crisis and the Dutch translations of Endgame were pulled from the shelves and pulverized into a pulp, Scobie blamed a “translation error” for the naming of the two royals – although he later appeared to admit that an ‘early’ version of the manuscript, which had not been approved by lawyers, was sent to translators in the Netherlands.

Elsewhere, the royal journalist, who was previously sympathetic to the Sussexes, has faced criticism from insiders who called his book “malicious” for its attacks on some members of the Firm.

Scobie, from East London, appears to have flown to LA following the fallout from the book, when he was spotted in the Californian city shortly before the New Year.

The royal author cut a modest figure, dressed all in black and sporting a baseball cap as he took a stroll.

The Daily Mail’s royal editor, Rebecca English, reported that although royal aides had told her they expected the book to be a “hatchet job” based on Scobie’s previously flattering tome about the Sussexes, Finding Freedom, it still left many of upset.

Scobie cut a modest figure as he was dressed all in black and also had a baseball cap

The royal author, known to be sympathetic to the Sussexes, has kept a low profile since the fallout from the book

Endgame, which launched attacks on several members of the royal family and called out so-called “royal racists” who had allegedly made comments about Prince Archie’s skin color, was published in late November

One source said that while much of it is a ‘rehash’ of well-known events from a ‘decidedly Sussex skew’, the almost pantomime nature of the leads calls into question much of what Scobie claims.

Another said there was a ‘fairytale’ atmosphere to the book. ‘It shows how little he actually knows. It’s actually quite embarrassing,” they noted.

Endgame claims:

• Charles’s ‘incompetence’ in dealing with Harry and Meghan – and refusal to give them the apology they demanded – has turned them into ‘disruptors’;
• Harry tried to ‘contact’ his father after the publication of his vitriolic memoir, Spare, earlier this year by calling his father, but found the king’s response to be ‘cold and curt’;
• Senior royals turned a blind eye to aides who leaked details about the Sussexes as part of their power games and subjected them to ‘institutional cruelty’;
• William and his father disagree over the future of the monarchy and the handling of family issues;
• Their ‘distrust and simmering hostility’ resulted in Charles borrowing ‘schadenfreude’ from his son’s supposedly disastrous tour of the Caribbean the previous year;
• William is ‘colder’ – but also inexplicably more ‘hot-headed’ – than his father and ‘has no problem taking prisoners along the way’;
• Camilla has helped leak stories about other members of the royal family and has ‘no relationship’ with Harry. The book says she has “great sympathy” for what Meghan went through, but “no respect” for the way the Sussexes handled themselves;
• The king was so indecisive about how to treat his beleaguered brother Andrew that William had to intervene and insist that he should lose his privileges;
• Charles “stumbled” through his first 100 days because King and Queen Elizabeth had so little faith in him that she made a former spymaster her “CEO.”

Scobie’s book was also poorly received by critics, with the New York Times, among others, targeting the book and describing one chapter as “like a press release concocted by ChatGPT.”

Derided as ‘not that different from what Harry presented in ‘Spare’, most reactions to the book focused on the Dutch-language edition, following the controversy it caused.

Despite racing generating interest in the book, early sales figures suggested that Endgame had not performed well in its first week of release, with Nielsen statistics suggesting that it had sold 6,448 copies in Britain in its first five days.

By contrast, Scobie’s first book about the Sussexes, Finding Freedom, sold 31,000 copies in its first five days, while Harry’s autobiography Spare sold 467,183 copies – making it the fastest-selling non-fiction book since records began in 1998.