Universal Television is developing a series based on a forthcoming novel co-written by British royal watcher Omid Scobie, Deadline reports.
The studio has won the rights to Royal Spin, written by Scobie and young adult author Robin Benway. The novel is the first work of fiction from Scobie, a journalist known for his two nonfiction books about the British royal family.
Publishers Weekly reports that William Morrow will publish Royal Spin, although no publication date has been set. The novel will follow Lauren O’Connell, a White House media affairs employee who takes a job doing press for Buckingham Palace.
Scobie scored a bestseller with his 2020 nonfiction book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family. His 2023 book, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival, was the subject of considerable media attention after a Dutch translation of the book claimed that King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales, had a conversation about the potential skin color of the then-unborn child of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Benway is known for her young adult novels, including Going Rogue and Emmy & Oliver, and the National Book Award–winning Far From the Tree. Royal Spin will be her first novel for adult readers.
The Royal Spin series pilot will be written by Emily Fox (Hindsight, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce). Scobie, Benway, and Fox will all serve as executive producers. The three said in a joint statement, “No show or book has ever gone inside the frenzied world of the Buckingham Palace press office, and we can’t wait to throw Lauren—our young American protagonist fresh from the White House communications team—into the deep end of it.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
