The Revelation in 'Endgame' That the British Media Do Not Want to Talk About

The real story lies in what is being ignored

I can’t imagine that anyone working on Endgame saw the coverage of the book unraveling into a furious discussion over the two royals apparently named in the Dutch translation of the book for voicing their concerns over then unborn Archie’s skin color. Interesting how the outrage is focused on the naming of two royals and not the incident in question. Is it surprising that unconscious bias exists in an institution that generated part of its wealth off of the African slave trade and has a history of colonizing majority Black and Brown countries? No. Everyone has work to do; members of the British Royal Family are no exception.

Similar to the pages within Spare, Endgame holds revelations about the British media—from a former honorary royal rota reporter at that. Since it would require actual self-reflection and further exposure to unsavory practices, the media has largely chosen to ignore it. And the revelation that had me reacting like Real Housewife Dorit Kemsley when Erika told her that she was just on ‘really good hormone replacements’ was related to a man we’ve spent a lot of time discussing over the past few months:

Dan Wootton.

Christian Jones is Pressed

It’s March of 2019 and the Deputy Communications Secretary for then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (it was around this time that they announced they would be splitting comms teams) Christian Jones is stressed to say the least. There is a rumor bubbling up that he is desperate to stop before it turns even more negative attention on Prince William, Catherine and the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, Rose Hanbury. (For more on the “rural rift” timeline, check out my series here.)

Here’s what the British Media had covered about the rumors up until that point:

There’s no proof of an affair, but gossip is damaging enough. Christian Jones is desperate to stop the rumor. So Jones pitches an idea to Omid Scobie, which he claims would help all three of them. In Endgame Scobie writes, “Christian clearly wanted to give Wootton something in exchange for standing down on the rumors.” The proposed exchange? Jones suggests that Omid connect with Dan Wootton and Omid’s supposed gain is that it would be a “great move” to help promote Finding Freedom before it launches that August [2019]. “‘He would be helpful,’ Jones wrote in a late-night text. ‘I reckon a story (from your book) to Dan that goes in The Sun, and then he goes on [morning TV show] Lorraine [to talk about it.]”’

I’m haunted each morning by this proposal.

Scobie wisely declines the offer.

But, as we now know, the story does disappear. Dan Wootton stops digging.

Why?

A Well-Known Friendship, Ignored by the Palace

Scobie confirms what we now know of a triad friendship between Christian, Dan and Christian’s partner, a freelance publicist named Callum. Scobie also claims that Prince William knew of Christian’s friendship with Dan from day one and that Christian admitted to having a, “working relationship” with the journalist in a 2018 palace job interview with then-Private Secretary, Simon Case.

Pulling Threads From Other Research

In the the Byline Times investigation ‘Megxit’ from Oct. 2023, they expose the cash-for-briefings scandal implicating Dan Wootton, Christian Jones and his partner that involved at least two leaked stories from the summer of 2019 about Harry and Meghan (interesting timing, huh?).

They also write this:​​

“But this newspaper can reveal that, although when formally questioned by Case…Jones admitted to knowing Wootton and dealing with him on a professional basis, he strongly denied that either he, or his partner, were close friends with the journalist.”

Interesting that despite Case knowing about the “working relationship” from Joneses job interview, there wasn’t more concern over this alleged cash-for-leaks scandal.

 Nevertheless the Rose/Will/Kate saga disappears from the papers, specifically The Sun, in June of 2019 when, according to Scobie, reporters were pulled off the hunt. It’s around this time that two curious things occur. The first is a noticeable shift to effusive praise for Prince William (believe it or not, Dan Wootton wasn’t always so kind to the Prince of Wales). The second is that Dan Wootton, a showbiz editor, starts getting really good royal scoops…including the 2020 exit of Prince Harry and Meghan as working royals.

Prince Harry has his suspicions too and it soon hits an online publication. Because of strict U.K. laws, Scobie cannot name this publication or its content, but I’m pretty sure based on the description and the timeline it is this 2020 piece from Byline Times:

And what of that carrot that Jones dangled in front of Scobie? Well, it turns out he had a different one up his sleeve that, that rascally rabbit, Dan Wootton, was all too happy to snatch up: Leaks on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. According to Scobie, who confirmed with separate sources–including 2 Sun staffers–“Jones helped provide details to The Sun about the Sussexes’ move to Canada and their decision to step back from royal life.” 

When questioned by BBC’s Amol Rajan in the documentary The Princes and the Press about the allegations that he was leaked the info, Wootton evades the question.

Adding to that, Scobie writes that when Sara Latham, head of Comms for H&M sat down in Jan. 2020 with Charleses Private Secretary, Julian Payne, and Jones to prepare a joint-statement confirming the official departure, details leaked while they were still working on the draft. “They hadn’t even spoken to anyone at this point and Dan [Wootton] was already calling her to ask for comment about details in the statement…It felt like Christian had literally been texting him under the table.” 

And, because I can’t state this enough, it is strange that a show biz editor suddenly gets some of the biggest royal scoops despite it not being his beat.

Going Back to Spare & the Palace Response to Prince Harry's Claims

Prince Harry writes in Spare that during the Sandringham Summit in 2020, he and Prince William went outside for a chat.

“I told him about one current staff member, whose close friend was taking payments for leaking private stuff to the press about Meg and me. My sources on this were above reproach, including several journalists and barristers. Plus, I’d made a visit to Scotland yard.” 

Prince Harry knows it’s Christian Jones. The brothers agree to do something, but nothing happens, except William promotes Jones—who had joined the Cambridges after the household comms team split—to be his Private Secretary. Scobie writes that Harry had a dossier of evidence that he went to the top of the institution with, along with a formal complaint aimed at The Sun. The palace goes into defense mode, but not on behalf of the Prince. The Lord Chamberlain at the time, Earl William Peel, wrote a strongly worded letter to Harry that said, “drop the charges or face severe consequences.” According to Scobie the Queen was not consulted. It sounds bizarre to circle the wagons around a Private Secretary over the son of the King, but this was the spare. Knowing now the goings on of backroom deals between the palace and News Corp—established by Rupert Murdoch—that owns The Sun, and eyes set on a future, friendly relationship with the British press, it makes more sense.

It also makes sense why the British press has decided to ignore this and focus on “attacks” on royal family members instead (some of which are just Scobie repeating some of their work back to them). It gets too into the “backstage” of royal reporting and the British Royal Family. Dig too deep and regular people could start making other connections between well-timed pieces and reporters. It might start to take the shape of a press that’s more of a PR extension of the British Royal Family rather than a free press that is tasked with providing an important check on the institution. It could cause people to question if they are receiving fair, fact-based reporting on an institution they help to financially support. As novelist Walter Bagehot wrote in The English Constitution about the monarchy, “Its mystery is its life. We must not let in daylight upon magic.”

While this is good for the monarchy, it’s ultimately bad for journalism.

And bad for the public.

-Meredith