Sussexes’ biographer spread ‘fake news’ on Duke
Omid Scobie under fire after tweet that misquoted William’s comments about the war in Ukraine
AS THE biographer of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, he has been a vocal supporter of their campaign against fake news and online mistruths.
So when Omid Scobie criticised the Duke of Cambridge for “ignorant” comments about the war in Ukraine which he suggested “normalised war and death in Africa and Asia”, legions of admirers around the world followed suit with outrage.
Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jnr’s daughter, led the way in saying the Duke’s comments were “horrific”.
There was just one small problem – the Duke did not actually say it and is now facing a “fake news” backlash.
The Duke, who visited a Ukrainian community centre in London with the Duchess on Wednesday, said: “For our generation, it’s very alien to see this happening in Europe. But we’re all right behind you. We’re thinking about you. We feel so useless. The news every day, it’s just… it’s almost unfathomable.”
Video evidence shared by ITV has no reference to the widely misreported quote that William said: “Britons were more used to seeing conflict in Africa and Asia.”
Corrected copy from the Press Association has since been circulated.
A royal source said the spreading of the misheard conversation around the world on social media had been “unfortunate”, but added the “video speaks for itself ” in correcting the record.
Critics had seized upon the phrase as evidence of racism in the Royal family, a year after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah Winfrey interview in which they claimed a relative had asked about their unborn son’s skin colour.
Mr Scobie, who co-wrote the Finding Freedom biography of the Sussexes, said: “Unsurprised to see backlash against Prince William’s ignorant remark. Europe has seen some of the bloodiest conflict in the past two centuries – Balkans, Yugoslavia, Germany and Kosovo to name a few. But sure, let’s normalise war and death in Africa and Asia.”
After video of the real encounter was shared critics of the Duke doubled down to point out even the phrase “alien to Europe” had been problematic.
Jake Tapper, a CNN anchor with 3.3 million Twitter followers, shared a photo of Wallis Simpson and Prince William’s great-uncle Edward, the Duke of Windsor, meeting Adolf Hitler, writing: “Read a book about your own family, dude.”
Unsurprised to see backlash against Prince William’s ignorant remark (reported by @PA). Europe has seen some of the bloodiest conflict in the past two centuries—balkans, Yugoslavia, Germany and Kosovo to name a few. But sure, let’s normalise war and death in Africa and Asia.