A panicked Omid Scobie has insisted he did not name a senior figure of The Firm as the ‘royal racist’, after his controversial new book was dramatically pulled from the shelves Tuesday in the Netherlands.
The author has blamed a ‘translation error’ for a passage in the Dutch language version of the book which appeared to name the person who allegedly questioned what colour Harry and Meghan‘s unborn son Archie would be.
Publishers Xander have confirmed to the Daily Mail that it had received a last-minute request from the US to put sales of Endgame on hold and were ‘awaiting further instructions’.
Who are the two royals named in endgame?
Prior to publication the 42-year-old had said he would not publish the name of the accused after alleging a letter between Meghan and King Charles named the person responsible.
He has claimed libel laws prevented him naming them – although he has gone on to claim that a second person within the royal household also echoed the remarks.
But a page taken from a review copy of the book sent to Dutch journalists does seem to contain the person’s identity.
Speaking to Dutch chat show RTL Boulevard today, Mr Scobie said insisted he was not to blame for 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 said.
‘I wrote and edited the English version. There’s never been no version that I’ve produced that has names in it.’
Is it really a translation error?
Although the Dutch version of the book does appear to name the person, both Scobie and publisher insist this is a translation error.
Referring to letters written between Meghan and the King discussing the issue, it reads: ‘But in those private letters [the identity] was confirmed: ….’ [the Mail has redacted the name concerned].
It is not clear why a foreign language version of the book would name an individual when other editions did not, or whether it was intentionally included or is a major publishing error.
A spokesman for the Dutch publisher said: ‘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.’
The original claim was made by Meghan in her infamous Oprah interview of March 2020 when she revealed there were ‘several conversations’ between herself, Harry and members within the royal family about ‘how dark’ their baby could be before Archie was born.
