Omid Scobie speculates about naming the two ‘royal racists’ in the future saying ‘I have to keep them to myself for now’ – as Dutch publisher issues new statement saying Endgame was pulled from sale due to ‘error’ but does not mention ‘translation’
Omid Scobie has speculated about naming the two ‘royal racists’ in the future – as his Dutch publisher sparked fresh questions by suggesting Endgame was pulled from sale due to an ‘error’ as opposed to a ‘translation’ issue.
Mr Scobie’s book has caused chaos after the Dutch translation, Eindstrijd, appeared to reveal the name of a person alleged to have commented on the skin colour of the baby Prince Harry and Meghan were expecting, Prince Archie.
Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers then spotted that two Royal Family members appeared to have been named as the ‘royal racists’ in his country’s translated copy.
Mr Scobie’s Dutch publisher Xander Uitgevers said they had been ordered by US bosses to put sales ‘on hold’ at the eleventh hour.
The royal author issued a statement this afternoon in which he insisted it was a ‘error in the translation’ in the Dutch version and he was ‘happy’ that it was being corrected.
Omid Scobie appears on ABC programme Nightline which aired early this morning in the US
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their baby son Archie in South Africa in September 2019
A redacted version of an English translation of the Dutch version of Endgame from Rick Evers
But appearing on ABC’s Nightline, which aired in the US early this morning, the royal author speculated that the two ‘royal racists’ could be named in future.
He told the programme: ‘Unfortunately, those are two names that I have to keep to myself for now. But I do wonder if that might change over the future. It does seem that Harry and Meghan have decided to put that to rest.’
Speaking about letters exchanged between King Charles III and Meghan after the incident was revealed in the Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021, Mr Scobie added: ‘We know from sources that Charles was horrified that’s how Meghan felt those conversations were and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative of the family, have that conversation with her.’
After Mr Scobie described it as an ‘error in translation’, his Netherlands publisher simply referred today to ‘an error that occurred in the Dutch edition’ – not making any reference to a translation issue, suggesting there may be a difference in opinion as to what actually happened.
The statement read: ‘The rectified edition of Eindstrijd by Omid Scobie will be in bookstores on Friday 8 December. Xander Uitgevers temporarily removed the book from sale, due to an error that occurred in the Dutch edition.’
Thousands of copies of Endgame, which was published globally yesterday to withering reviews for its vindictiveness toward the Royal Family, now face being pulped as a result of the error.
Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers revealed on ITV‘s Good Morning Britain that the first name was ‘very specific’, while the second one was ‘a little bit vague’.
In the English-language edition Mr Scobie does not name the royal accused by Meghan of expressing ‘concern’ about the skin colour of her future son Archie.
But the book alleges that in her letters to discuss the situation the duchess claims similar remarks were made by a second person in the Royal Household.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their children Archie and Lilibet in December 2021
Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers revealed on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today (pictured) that the first name in the book was ‘very specific’, while the second one was ‘a little bit vague’
In the English version, Mr Scobie says he knows the names of both individuals but ‘laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were’. The same sentence is in the Italian edition.
Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame about the Royal Family has been released this week
However a page taken from a review copy of the book sent to Dutch journalists this week clearly points the finger at a senior royal.
Referring to the letters discussing the issue, it reads dramatically: ‘But in those private letters an identity was revealed and confirmed: [The Mail has redacted the name concerned and will not be repeating it].’
It is unclear why one foreign language version of the book would name a specific individual when no other editions appear to do so. And it should be stressed that there is no evidence the claim itself is even true.
Mr Evers, who first revealed yesterday that the book had identified one of the ‘royal racists’, told Good Morning Britain today: ‘Names of two senior royals are mentioned during the book.’
Host Richard Madeley then asked: ‘Can I be clear about this, there are two names in the book?’
Omid Scobie is pictured outside the Good Morning America studios in New York yesterday
And Mr Evers replied: ‘Yes, the first one is very specific. The second one is a little bit vague, if this person is really involved in the story. But the first one is very clear and the official way was that it was a translation issue. There are some debates about how these passages were stated in the book. I would say how could you translate a name wrong?’
Mr Madeley then said: ‘Well, I was going to ask you, how do you mistranslate a name. You can mistranslate a word or a sentence, but a name? Do you buy that explanation from the publishers that it’s a translation error?
Mr Evers responded: ‘I can’t believe it. I got through the book with a colleague of you and we saw some passages were missing in the English version. Like a sentence, five sentences between the first and the third part that was in the Dutch version.
‘So something has been erased during the work that has been done for the book. So my suggestion is that… the official words from Omid were that it was “never in the production of Omid”.
‘Which is way of saying, well if it’s a production, then it is produced – well, it’s my theory – but then a manuscript has never been produced, but it has been used of course. So I think it was in the manuscript but legal agents said it’s not a good idea to mention these names because of, well, that’s where we are.’
The Dutch version doesn’t just include the specific royal’s name but contains no mention whatsoever of Mr Scobie’s claim in the English version that he is prevented by law from repeating it.
A spokesman for the Dutch publisher, Xander, told the Mail: ‘You are right but I can’t talk about the details. We have, however, received a request to put the title on hold and that is what we have done.’
Asked when that request was received, she explained: ‘Just now. We are awaiting further instructions. I do not know how long this will be. You should speak to the US agent.’
They later claimed it was an ‘error’ and was ‘currently being rectified’.
Adding to the confusion, Mr Scobie told Dutch chat show RTL Boulevard that he did not mention a name in his manuscript.
He added: ‘The book is available in a number of languages and unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, but if there have been any translation errors I am sure the publisher has got it under control.
‘For me, I edited and wrote the English version, there has never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it.’
HarperCollins in New York, Mr Scobie’s publishers, did not respond to requests for comment.
Two major bookshops in central Amsterdam said they had not received deliveries as expected yesterday, though offered to order a copy for delivery ‘in about a week’.
Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018
Nightline also spoke to ABC royal contributor Victoria Murphy, who claimed that the name would only be revealed if the person or people involved identified themselves.
She said: ‘The only way we would ever find out is if a member of the royal family directly involved chose to say so on the record. We won’t have any confirmation or that won’t gain any further traction unless that happens. ‘
Mr Scobie also told Nightline that Harry and Meghan will never move back to Britain.
He said: ‘I asked these questions to people around them. Will Meghan go back to acting? No. Will they move back to the UK? No, no never. I think they found their forever place out here. They seem happy, they’ve built a world they’re actually thriving in.’
And, commenting on rumours over a rift within their marriage, he added: ‘From everything I understand, they’re absolutely fine. This is a pair who have literally bonded over their trauma and experiences, sort of them being against the world as it’s felt to them at times. I don’t think that that bond is particularly breakable.’
But Mr Scobie also told Nightline that Prince William does not trust Harry.
He said: ‘The reality is, when you look at the details, when you speak to the people around them, any effort that Harry had made to speak with his brother has been thwarted.
‘The sources around William say that William doesn’t trust his brother. He called him a “defector” at one point. These are really strong feelings. And I don’t think that they’ve gone away or changed.’
He also told of the apparently awkward moment that Harry, Meghan, William and Kate reunited for a walkabout in Windsor after Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September last year.
Mr Scobie said: ‘I was told that silence in the car on the way from the sort of quadrangle at Windsor Castle to the Long Walk was palpable. You know, it was just extremely uncomfortable and awkward.
William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019
‘It was sad, because I think that for the public, the image was, oh, great, the fab four are back together again. The reality is, after they left that walkabout, they didn’t talk again.’
And he insisted that Harry and Meghan were not involved in the book, adding that any suggestion otherwise ‘couldn’t be further from the truth, actually’.
There was no comment on anything relating to Endgame from Buckingham Palace, which has treated the book with a contemptuous silence.
One royal source told the Mail yesterday that it was ‘thoroughly littered with errors that discredited it as a piece of journalism’.
The furore began yesterday after Mr Evers leaked the name on social media.
That meant that while Mr Scobie, 42, was gleefully waving to photographers in New York and embarking on a round of chat show appearances to publicise his new tome, the name of the senior royal supposedly concerned was being shared on social media – although most reactions to it were disbelieving and sympathetic.
The original claim about racism was made by Meghan in her infamous Oprah interview when she revealed there were ‘several conversations’ between herself, Harry and members of the Royal Family about ‘how dark’ their unborn baby Archie would be.
‘In those months when I was pregnant [there were] concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born,’ Meghan said in the interview.
Harry added: ‘That conversation, I am never going to share. It was awkward, I was a bit shocked.’ Meghan added: ‘I think it would be very damaging for them.’
King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, on Sunday
The resulting furore led Prince William to state publicly that they were ‘very much not a racist family’.
Harry later clarified the royal was not Queen Elizabeth II or the Duke of Edinburgh.
In his new book Mr Scobie refers to an exchange of letters between Meghan and her father-in-law that were said to address the duchess’s ‘concerns about unconscious racial bias in the royal family’ and contained ‘damning details’.
Mr Scobie goes on to say that Charles first reached out to Meghan in spring 2021 to express his sadness over the ‘distance’ between them and his disappointment that the couple chose to go so public with their words.
Despite the clear inferences in her interview, Scobie falls over himself to stress that Meghan never used the words racist or racism when she spoke about the event or in her private letters.
