Two Royal Family members appear to have been named as the ‘royal racists’ in the Dutch translation of Omid Scobie‘s new book Endgame, it was claimed today.
Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers revealed on ITV‘s Good Morning Britain that the first name was ‘very specific’, while the second one name was ‘a little bit vague’.
It comes after Mr Scobie’s book was pulled from sale in the Netherlands yesterday after it apparently named one of the ‘royal racists’. The author’s Dutch publishers said they had been ordered by US bosses to put sales ‘on hold’ at the eleventh hour.
Thousands of copies of Endgame, which was published globally yesterday to withering reviews for its vindictiveness toward the Royal Family, face being pulped.
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.
Omid Scobie is pictured outside the Good Morning America studios in New York yesterday
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.
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?’
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: ‘Unfortunately I do not speak Dutch. But if there are translation errors, the publisher will correct them. I wrote the English version. There was no version from me in which names were mentioned.’
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’.
There was no comment 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 a Dutch royal journalist 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 Winfrey interview of March 2021 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.’
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.