Second royal 'named as racist' in Dutch translation of Omid Scobie’s book as author insists he’s not to blame

28 November 2023, 21:19 | Updated: 29 November 2023, 08:03

Omid Scobie has denied naming a royal accused of asking about Archie's skin colour in his new book Endgame as it was pulled from sale in the Netherlands.

The royal author, who is close to Meghan and Harry, includes a passage where he claims the Duchess of Sussex named a member of the family who asked about it.

A name has been printed in the Dutch edition in what has been blamed on a translation error.

It has led to an order for thousands of copies of the new book to be destroyed.

But Scobie said he had nothing to do with the error.

"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," he told Dutch chat show RTL Boulevard.

"I wrote and edited the English version. There's never been no version that I've produced that has names in it."

In the book, a passage discusses letters written between Meghan and King Charles in which she is said to have named the person.

A spokesperson for Dutch publisher Xander said: "[We are] temporarily withdrawing the book by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified."

Scobie has claimed he does not want to fall foul of libel laws so will not name the individual. Meghan has previously discussed the allegation during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

She refused to say who it was to avoid "damaging" them, while Harry has denied his family is racist but there is an element of "unconscious bias".

Scobie has since claimed a second person in the royal household echoed the concern over Archie's skin colour.

"I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour," he told TV's Good Morning.

"The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged sometime after the Oprah interview.

"We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to - sort of as a representative for the family - have that conversation with her.

"And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards, though they may not see eye to eye on it."

Endgame contains a raft of explosive claims against the royals.

Besides the allegation about the approaches over Archie's skin colour, Scobie has claimed King Charles branded Harry a "fool" over the Harry and Meghan documentary and then refused to speak to him.

He has also alleged the King warned other royals not to trust him.

Meanwhile, William is portrayed as power hungry, and responsible for a rift between himself and his father for influence.