Omid Scobie finally admits he did name ‘royal racists’ in Endgame despite early denials | Royal | News | Express.co.uk
Omid Scobie’s royal book Endgame dominated headlines after a Dutch version named the two “royal racists” and the author sought to distance himself from the scandal early on.
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Omid Scobie has admitted he did name the two ‘royal racists’ in Endgame (Image: GMA)
Royal author Omid Scobie has made a dramatic U-turn after admitting that he did name the “royal racists” in a version of his bombshell book Endgame, despite having denied it on multiple occassions.
His book dominated headlines last week after a version of his book published in the Netherlands named two senior royals who had held discussions about the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s first child, Prince Archie.
The book was quickly pulled from the shelves but the damage was already done. Piers Morgan named the two royals live on air and other news outlets followed suit and revealed their identities. The Daily Express has chosen not to name the two individuals.
Confronted with claims he had put the names into an earlier manuscript of the book, Mr Scobie initially said he had never named them. He said this repeatedly in interviews and has refused to apologise.
However, the author has now admitted to doing so. Today he said an “early and uncleared text” was given to the publisher in the Netherlands.
Writing in a column for inews column, he wrote: “Unbeknownst to me at the time, early and uncleared text was provided to the Dutch publisher in order for them to start work on the translation, with the understanding that their translation would be updated to reflect the final version of the book I officially submitted.”
He added: “To be clear, the only publisher I worked directly with was the one covering the US and UK.
“I spent almost two months with independent British barristers and in-house legal counsel to ensure that every detail in the finished book was legally watertight.”
Just last week Mr Scobie insisted the Dutch version was not a “stunt”, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I never submitted a book that had those names in it.” Asked if it was a “stunt to sell books”, Mr Scobie said: “I wish it was the case” and pointed out that “an investigation is underway” to ascertain how the Dutch version strayed so far from the English edition.
After Mr Scobie’s comments, Dutch translator Saskia Peeters claimed that the names were included in the book.
Speaking to MailOnline, she said: “As a translator, I translate what is in front of me. The names of the royals were there in black and white. I did not add them. I just did what I was paid to do and that was translate the book from English into Dutch.”
Meghan Markle first revealed that a member of the Royal Family had discussed what colour skin her firstborn child would have in her infamous sitdown interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 – but the name of the person was never revealed. Harry and Meghan later clarified that the person was not Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.
Mr Scobie discussed the events in Endgame, where he claimed that not one, but two royals were involved in the discussion. But he did not reveal their identities due to UK libel laws. However, the Dutch edition appeared to name the two royals.
In a statement they said it was due to “an error in the Dutch translation” that is “currently being rectified”. Now, the publishers have said that a new version of the book will return to stores in the Netherlands on Friday 8 December.
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