A royal row deepened tonight after a publishing error in a controversial new book which named a pair of alleged “royal racists” was cast into doubt.
The Dutch translation of Omid Scobie’s royal expose Endgame was dramatically pulled from shelves on Monday night after naming senior royals at the heart of a racism scandal involving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
But speculation has continued to grow that the publishing fiasco, which reignited an ugly row that rocked the British monarchy two years ago, was infact a stunt designed to boost sales of the book.
Today, Scobie insisted the naming of the royals, one of whom was specifically named and the other alluded to, was simply a “translation error” mistakenly printed in his scathing takedown on the monarchy.
“Having only written and edited the English version of Endgame, I can only comment on that manuscript — which does not name the two individuals who took part in the conversation. I’m happy to hear that the error in the translation of the Dutch edition is being fixed,” he said.
However, royal experts have questioned whether it is possible to “mistranslate two names” after copies of the book in the Netherlands appeared to identify the two royals said to have expressed concerns about the skin colour of Meghan Markle’s future son Archie.
Royal commentator Michael Cole, a former BBC royal correspondent, told GB News: “It’s one thing if it was an innocent error by the Dutch publishers. It’s quite another if this was a publicity stunt to sell more copies of this book.
The Duchess of Sussex claimed there were speculation about the skin colour of her and Prince Harry’s son, Archie
(Getty Images)
“Making the charge of racism is pernicious. It’s an easy charge to make and it’s extremely difficult to refute because you have to prove a negative. And whether that’s a royal person or anybody else, it’s a very ugly allegation to make.”
While, veteran royal reporter Phil Dampier told the MailOnline: “It’s very hard to believe that this error occurred due to a problem with the translation, and I’ve not seen the Dutch publisher claim this is what happened. How can you mistranslate two names? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Dutch journalist Rick Evers, who had read the translated version, also told ITV Good Morning Britain co-host Richard Madeley that he didn’t believe the names were included due to “translation errors”, as Scobie previously suggested, adding “something has been erased” in the Dutch version.
“I can’t believe that it was a translation error,” he explained. “We saw some passages were missing in the English version. Like five sentences between the first and third part that wasn’t in the English version. So something has been erased during the work that has been done for the book.
He added, was that the names were in Scobie’s original manuscript but “legal agents” advised against them being included in Endgame.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Scobie for comment.
During Meghan’s infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the Duchess of Sussex claimed there were speculation about the skin colour of her and Prince Harry’s son, Archie.
“In those months when I was pregnant… we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title,’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” she told Winfrey.
In Endgame, Scobie discusses the royal racism row that erupted in the aftermath of Meghan’s comments, writing that two members of the royal family expressed “concerns” about Prince Archie’s complexion, rather than just one person.
He explains that, while he was aware of their identities, “laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were”.
It is unclear why one foreign language version of the book would name a specific individual when no other editions appear to do so, while there is no evidence that the claim is even true.