28 November 2023 , 21:27
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Royal author Omid Scobie has denied responsibility for a blunder in his new book that seemingly saw one senior royal named as the person behind the racist remarks about Meghan and Harry's son Archie.
During the Sussexes' 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle claimed a member of the royal family enquired how dark their son Archie would be. They accused the unnamed senior royal of expressing "concern" about their child’s complexion in the bombshell interview.
In the book, Mr Scobie claims that there were in fact two royals who made derogatory remarks about Archie's skin colour. He said in interviews this week that UK law prevented him from revealing their names, which were detailed in private letters from Meghan to King Charles.
Royal author Omid Scobie published his new bombshell book today (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)However a review copy of the book sent to Dutch journalists appears to plainly state the identity of the royal who allegedly made the remarks. Referring to the letters written between Meghan and the King discussing the issue, the Dutch version of the book reads: "But in those private letters and identity was revealed and confirmed."
It's not yet known how the name now has ended up included, whether it was a publication error or translation error. The Mirror has chosen not to publish the name of the person in question.
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Mr Scobie has since come out and said he wasn’t responsible for the apparent blunder. Speaking to Dutch chat show RTL Boulevard today, he said: "The book is in several languages, and unfortunately I do not speak Dutch. But if there are translation errors, I'm sure the publishers will have it under control. I wrote and edited the English version. There's never been no version that I've produced that has names in it."
Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Xander, the publishers of the Dutch translation of Mr Scobie's Endgame, have put sales of the book on hold "temporarily" over what it calls an "error". They said in a statement: "[We are] temporarily withdrawing the book by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified."
A Dutch journalist who spotted the passage, said on the social media site formerly known as Twitter: “NL (Netherlands) version 'Endgame' must be withdrawn from sale, says Dutch publisher at request of the US agent. "A number of passages have sparked debate, may not have been accurately presented.
“This seems to concern also the accusation against XXX (name redacted), about Archie's skin color (sic).” He added in a further tweet which contained a translation in English of the Dutch copy of the book: “This is - as far as I know - only regarding the Dutch version, not the English one.
“It seems as if only the Dutch version has published the person's name who spoke about the skin color (sic)of the unborn child. XXX (name redacted).”