Sussex Biographer Behind Finding Freedom to Release Second Book That Will “Have the World Talking”

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published 4 August 2022

Omid Scobie, the author of 2020’s Sussex biography Finding Freedom, is releasing his second book in 2023, his publisher HarperCollins announced.

Scobie, who coauthored Finding Freedom with Carolyn Durand, says his latest book will “have the world talking.”

In a statement about the forthcoming book, it was revealed “the nonfiction title will focus on a new chapter of the royal story and feature unique insight, deep access, and exclusive revelations that will once again have the world talking when released.”

Though it doesn’t mention what part of the royal story it will focus on, Finding Freedom was, The Independent reports, “based on a series of interviews with unnamed sources who claimed to be closely affiliated with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and other members of the royal family.”

After its initial release in August 2020, the book was rereleased in 2021 with a new epilogue. The revised version included details about how Prince William allegedly responded to Harry and Meghan’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey—according to sources, William “was understood to be ‘furious’ that private family matters were being discussed in the public domain”—and the book also claimed that taking part in the Oprah interview felt “cathartic” for Meghan.

“All the things she had kept to herself or been too afraid to say [as a working member of the royal family] she felt safe to finally share,” a friend of Meghan’s allegedly told Scobie. “It was liberating.”

The epilogue also touched on Harry’s return to the U.K. in April 2021 for the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip.

The Sussexes’ legal team previously denied working with Scobie and Durand on Finding Freedom, saying they did “not collaborate with [Scobie and Durand] on the book, nor were they interviewed for it, nor did they provide photographs to the authors for the book.”

Any guesses as to what this second book will cover?

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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