Omid Scobie ‘has done his master’s bidding’ as Harry and Meghan are Endgame author’s ‘meal ticket so he wouldn’t do anything to upset them’, expert tells PALACE CONFIDENTIAL
Omid Scobie ‘has done his master’s bidding’ after the Dutch translation of his new book named two royals alleged to have expressed ‘concerns’ about the colour of Prince Archie‘s skin, a royal expert has told Palace Confidential.
Despite Mr Scobie’s insistence that he is not in ‘cahoots’ with Meghan Markle, 42, the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden suggested the Endgame author ‘wouldn’t do anything that he thought would upset’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Mr Eden told the Mail+’s weekly talk show: ‘Let’s be clear here, Harry and Meghan are Omid Scobie’s meal ticket. They really are. He wouldn’t do anything that he thought would upset them.
‘When Meghan made those claims back on Oprah Winfrey, she knew exactly what she was doing. She set that hare running, and those names were always likely to come out. They wanted it to hang over the Royal Family.
‘They wanted to do as much damage as they possibly could with that interview, they knew that it would linger, that nasty smell, would linger over the Royal Family. So Omid, whether directly or not, is doing his master’s bidding.
Despite Mr Scobie’s insistence that he is not in ‘cahoots’ with Meghan Markle, 42, the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden (pictured) suggested the Endgame author ‘wouldn’t do anything that he thought would upset’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Mr Eden continued: ‘It’s appalling, it’s disgusting. You’ve got all these people who can’t answer back, with the Royal Family.
‘I mean imagine how poor Catherine feels, she’s had all of this sent her way, with all the stuff in the interview and the book, and she’s trying to rise above it as they all have but it’s very hard.’
Mr Scobie, 42, took the extraordinary step of swearing on his own life, and his family’s, on live TV last night that the naming of two royals in the Dutch version of Endgame is not a ‘stunt’ to shift more copies of his book.
He said he was ‘hurt’ by the suggestion and dismissed it as a conspiracy theory by people who want to believe that he is ‘in cahoots’ with Meghan, declaring: ‘It couldn’t be further from the truth’.
The author also refused to apologise for the racism scandal that has erupted, claiming: ‘I’m as frustrated as everyone else. The book I wrote, the book I edited, the book I signed off on, did not have names in it’.
But questions about whether he put the names in remain because one of the Dutch translators told MailOnline yesterday: ‘The names of the royals were there in black and white. I did not add them’.
Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Two’s Newsnight, Mr Scobie was asked to say ‘hand on heart’ that the farrago over the Dutch translation was not a PR stunt. He raised his hands, shaking his head, and replied: ‘On my life, on my family’s life.’ Ms Derbyshire said: ‘You don’t have to go that far, it’s fine’.
Scobie then said: ‘No it’s serious because I feel hurt by some of the things I’ve seen that have suggested a conspiracy theory, that this is some kind of publicity stunt, and “I’m in cahoots with my pal [Meghan]” and nonsense like that because it feeds into something that couldn’t be further from the truth’.
Victoria then said: ‘In some version you must have written the names in and the wrong version has potentially gone to the people in charge of the rights around the world, I suppose’. Mr Scobie didn’t respond.
It came as media organisations around the world, including ITV, The Guardian and The Times, named the two royals accused of asking about Archie’s skin colour as King Charles and his daughter-in-law Kate.
The Dutch edition of Mr Scobie’s book named the two royals Meghan (pictured with Harry in September 2021) allegedly accused of having ‘concerns’ over ‘how dark’ Prince Archie would be, which was followed up by Piers Morgan last night identifying them on live television
Mr Scobie (pictured), 42, took the extraordinary step of swearing on his own life, and his family’s, on live TV last night that the naming of two royals in the Dutch version of Endgame is not a ‘stunt’ to shift more copies of his book
During Good Morning Britain’s opening credits today, Ben Shephard said: ‘The Princess of Wales made no comment at the Royal Variety performance in London last night and it was business as usual for the King at the climate conference in Dubai after they were named in the Dutch version of a new book as the royals who questioned what colour skin Prince Archie would have.’
The Dutch edition of Mr Scobie’s book named the two royals Meghan allegedly accused of having ‘concerns’ over ‘how dark’ Prince Archie would be, which was followed up by Piers Morgan last night identifying them on live television.
The inclusion of the names led to 5,000 copies of the book (pictured) – called ‘Final Battle’ in Holland – being withdrawn from sale on the bookshelves and pulped
Sources close to the Duchess of Sussex, who allegedly named the pair in a letter to Charles, have insisted to the Telegraph that she had ‘never intended them to be publicly identified’ and that it ‘was not leaked to Mr Scobie by anyone in her camp’.
Members of the Royal Family have got down to business as usual, with King Charles in Dubai for Cop28 and Prince William and Kate dazzling at the Royal Variety Performance in London last night.
Palace sources told The Mirror that the ‘entire Royal Family is united in outrage’ after members of the family were ‘unfairly named in this way’.
They added: ‘There is absolute and unequivocal denial that anything said by the two persons named publicly was said, or even could be considered to be said, in a racist manner.’
The row was described as ‘an outrageous smear’ that began with the Oprah interview but has now ‘blown up into another stratosphere’.
The inclusion of the names led to 5,000 copies of the book – called ‘Final Battle’ in Holland – being withdrawn from sale on the bookshelves and pulped.
Bookstores were ordered to remove the paperback from their shelves and return to the publisher. The book will go back on sale next week.
