Omid Scobie insists ‘he’s the victim’ in Endgame row and claims he’s been unfairly treated | Royal | News | Express.co.uk
Omid Scobie has given his first UK television interview since his book Endgame was released where he insists he had nothing to do with the Dutch translation error.
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Omid Scobie claims he’s the victim of character assassination (Image: ABC7/GMA)
Omid Scobie has said that he has become victim to “character assassination” and is being “unfairly treated” over the numerous claims made in his bomshell new royal book Endgame. Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today, the author said: “I knew this book would be controversial, whether it’s about race or the Palace’s relationship with the press. I never expected it to be presented fairly. A lot of this has been about me. There have been unfair attacks on me”.
In the interview he discussed the controversy surrounding the Dutch version of Endgame, which appeared to name the two royals who questioned what colour Prince Archie’s skin colour would be before he was born. The version of the book was quickly pulled from stores, but not before photos of the relevant pages were shared on social media. In response, Piers Morgan revealed the identity of the two royals named in the book on live TV last night.
But Mr Scobie, who says he believes he is the victim of “a character assassination”, denies that it was a “stunt” to promote the book and insisted: “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.
He said: “I had never submitted a book that had their names in it, so I can only talk about my version. I’m obviously frustrated, I wouldn’t say I’m upset about it because obviously I’d been working in a bubble of no emotion for the last ten days.” The author went on to say he had never used the ‘racist’ word in relation to the comments over Archie’s skin colour, adding that it was described as “unconscious bias”.
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Mr Scobie went on to deny that he is “Meghan’s mouthpiece” or just “some mouthy fan”, adding: “I’m not their friend. I’ve never sat down with Meghan or shared information with her”. In an attempt to reiterate that he’s not close with the Sussexes, he told the hosts: “I have very little interest in what they are doing in California. Harry and Meghan are irrelevant to the future of the Royal Family.” But he did admit to he was “sympathetic”, claiming he had witnessed unfair treatment of Meghan when she was a working royal.
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 – but the name of the person was never revealed. Harry and Meghan later clarified that the person was not Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.
Omid Scobie’s Endgame was published on Tuesday (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
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 – prompting the publishers to quickly pull the book from the shelves.
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.
When promoting his memoir Spare at the start of the year Harry denied the comment about his son was racist. When asked by his friend and broadcaster Tom Bradby “wouldn’t you describe that as essentially racist?” the duke replied “no I wouldn’t”.
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