LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Royal author Omid Scobie has accused the Dutch edition of his latest book of calling out the purported senior royal who apparently made a "racist" remark regarding the skin tone of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby boy Archie.
Following readers' discovery of the error, Scobie's biography, 'Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival', was immediately taken out of Dutch bookstores on Tuesday, November 28.
Publishers Xander Uitgevers told the Daily Mail that they were "awaiting further instructions" after receiving a last-minute request from the US to halt 'Endgame' sales.
Omid Scobie blamed a 'translation error' for the erroneous passage
In a state of panic, Scobie has maintained that he did not label a high-ranking member of The Firm as the "royal racist," following the abrupt removal of his contentious new book from Dutch bookshops.
The 42-year-old royal writer claimed to have received a letter in which the perpetrator was identified between Meghan and King Charles, but he was forbidden to include it in his book due to libel rules.
Scobie also stated that another member of the royal family had made similar comments. However, a page extracted from a review copy of the book that was distributed to Dutch media appears to reveal the individual's name.
Even though he knew who the alleged person was, Scobie insisted he would never disclose his name and attributed the phrase to a "translation error." Speaking with the Dutch tabloid RTL Boulevard, the royal biographer emphasized that he was not at fault for the mishap.
He said, "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. I wrote and edited the English version. There's never been no version that I've produced that has names in it."
The reason why the individual's name was included in the foreign language edition of the book but not in other editions remains unexplained.
Internet finds the Dutch edition's 'translation error' suspicious
Although Scobie claimed that revealing the royal individual's identity who made the alleged "racist" remark about Prince Archie of Sussex in the Dutch edition of 'Endgame' is a "translation error," netizens did not find it convincing.
One wrote, "Now they have nothing left to hold over the Kings head. I believe this was an item of "blackmail" and this is why there is a Prince and Princess toddler in Montecito, CA."
Another inquired, "Publishing error, incorrect translation or publicity stunt?"
"How did this book get past editing, legal and fact check??" questioned a person.
One more suspicious user noted, "Why any publisher would wade into Omid’s hot mess to begin with is beyond me. Especially after he was outed as a perjurer in court with Meghan. Definitely a lawsuit will be sprung from this. I can’t help but laugh."
"Must have been intentional. That wasn’t a mistake in translation as reported earlier," asserted another person.
A netizen claimed, "This was no accident. This was a coordinated attack on the Royal Family."
"An ‘accident’ intended to create scandal and headlines and drive sales. And attack a person who I’m very sure hasn’t got a racist bone in his body. This is all becoming abhorrent," exclaimed a user.
Meghan Markle opened up about the 'royal racist' in the 2021 Oprah interview
During the couple's shocking in-person 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle asserted that her son would not be entitled to protection or a royal title. She seemed to agree when asked if that was "because of his race."
Markle went on to say that she discussed Archie's skin tone in "several" conversations with an unnamed family member.
Harry did explain that the person in question was not the Duke of Edinburgh nor the Queen. Ever since, the royal family has been plagued by the mystery surrounding the identity of the "royal racist," which has spurred ongoing discussion.
