Omid Scobie admits that he did name the 'racist royals' in an early draft of Endgame.

This saga keeps getting messier by the day.

A new book by journalist Omid Scobie on the British royal family is making headlines for allegedly naming two senior members of the family who made concerning remakes about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son Archie. 

The two senior royals named are King Charles and the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton.

For a long time, Scobie said he had nothing to do with outing the two senior royals. Now he has admitted an original draft of his book's manuscript did in fact reveal the names. 

Here's what we know – Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival by Scobie details the atmosphere and family drama that came after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry's memoir Spare, and the coronation of King Charles III. 

Scobie is a royal correspondent who has previously co-authored another book about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family. 

He has been accused of being a mouthpiece for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle due to his history of having a close relationship with Meghan. 

In 2020, he was one of three journalists invited to cover Meghan's last engagement as an official working member of the royal family. 

Ahead of his new book's release, Scobie maintained that "I'm not 'Meg's pal'," he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). In an interview with Paris Match, he said "I am not their friend and never have been." 

This brings us to the current controversy as a Dutch translation of Scobie's book Endgame named two key royals who allegedly made comments about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son Archie's skin colour. 

The book has since been taken off shelves in the Netherlands and according to The Telegraph, copies of the Dutch translation of Endgame are now selling for eight times the original retail price. 

When this news came to light, Scobie said the two names were never included in the English version of his book, appearing to suggest a translation confusion gone wrong. 

But now, he has released a statement.

Scobie confirmed that the inclusion wasn't a "translation" error but rather the result of an early, unapproved manuscript being sent to publishers before the names were removed for the final version, based on "watertight" legal advice.

"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," Scobie wrote for iNews.

"Other foreign-language publishers, including in France and Italy, were also doing the same thing, though their versions perfectly replicated the completed work. What I can be sure of is that I edited carefully, took independent legal advice, and the finished book that I submitted was not the version published in the Netherlands."

But how did this happen? Let's start from the beginning.

March 2021: The Oprah interview.

This story first began when Harry and Meghan sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. 

When Meghan said the royal family expressed hesitations around making their son Archie a prince, Oprah asked "Why do you think that is? Do you think it’s because of his race?"

Meghan replied: "I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time... so 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."

Watch the conversation here. Post continues after video.

Oprah asked who was part of that conversation, but Meghan wouldn't elaborate. "I think that would be very damaging to them," she replied. 

Later in the interview when Harry was present, Oprah pressed him on what the conversation was that involved Archie's skin tone. He replied, "That conversation I’m never going to share, but at the time, at the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked." 

Oprah continued to probe and all she could get out of him was that the alleged comment was made early into Meghan's short tenure as a royal. "Right at the beginning, when she wasn't going to get security, when members of my family were suggesting that she carries on acting, because there was not enough money to pay for her, and all this sort of stuff," he said.

"Like, there were some real obvious signs before we even got married that this was going to be really hard."

March 2021: The Royals respond. 

A few days after the interview, Buckingham Palace released a statement.

"The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning," the statement said. 

"Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members." 

Shortly after, Prince William was asked by a reporter: "Is the royal family a racist family, sir?" and the royal replied "We're very much not a racist family." 

March 2021: Oprah shares more information.

Oprah went on to clarify that in a separate conversation, she received confirmation that Harry's grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, did not make the alleged comment about Archie's race.

"He did not share the identity with me," Oprah said. "But he wanted to make sure that I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother, nor his grandfather that were part of those conversations. ... He did not tell me who were a part of those conversations. As you could see I tried to get that answer, on-camera and off."

January 2023: Harry backtracks on what was said. 

Despite the claims made about conversations around Archie's skin, this was not discussed in the couple's Netflix series or in Harry's memoir, Spare. 

In an interview with ITV News host Tim Bradby, when he asked Harry "In the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism" the Duke cut him off to say "no I didn't", adding "the British press said that". 

Prince Harry went on to say that there is a "difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different," he said. 

The royal family in 2018. Image: Getty. 

November 2023: Omid Scobie's book is released. 

Omid Scoobie's royal book was released with a number of bombshell revelations. The biggest one was that it was two royals who spoke about Archie’s skin colour, which Scobie discovered in letters exchanged between Charles and Meghan over the incident in 2021. 

However, Scobie noted in the book that “laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were." 

Other revelations noted in the book were that Meghan's fashion choices as a royal were based on Princess Diana. "It had been known for someone to go back and pull images of Diana at a certain place or time for ideas," a source said. 

Another claim was that Prince William had pushed for controversial royal Prince Andrew to be stripped of his titles. In another part of Endgame, the writer claimed that the only royal who told Harry about the death of the Queen was Princess Eugenie.

The book also made allegations about what it was like to work as a“ non-white member of royal household staff." One former non-white staffer said “I have not witnessed outright, explicit racism but I have certainly experienced, and seen others experience, microaggressions and prejudice at work."

Another former staffer added, “The ignorance and casual racism is as bad as you think it is. It felt like another era sometimes.”

November 2023: The book is taken off shelves in the Netherlands.

The book was removed from shelves and will be redistributed in Holland after Dutch journalists discovered the translation contained the identity of the royals who allegedly made the remarks about Archie's race.

Scobie immediately spoke out about what he refers to as an 'error' in the Dutch translation. 

"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," Scobie told People.

Scobie appeared on ITV's This Morning where he once again claimed he had "never submitted a book that had their names in it".

The author on ITV's This Morning. Image: ITV. 

In another interview on Dutch TV, he maintained that no earlier versions of the book ever named the two royals. 

"There's never been a version that I've produced that has names in it," he told the RTL Boulevard show.

November 2023: Dutch translators refute his story.

Translator Saskia Peeters told MailOnline that the manuscript she received included the royals' names in "black and white. I did not add them," she said.

"As a translator, I translate what is in front of me."

When informed that the author said the names weren't in the manuscript, Peeters said "I don't know why he would say that. I have been translating for many years. This is the first time anything like this has happened." 

Other colleagues of the two Dutch translators who worked on Scobie's book have since said that there's no chance that translators Peeters and Nellie Keukelaar-van Rijsbergern added the names to the Dutch version by mistake. 

They told MailOnline that "I find it really unthinkable that a translator would mention names that weren't there in their English version, especially such a sensitive matter.

"To me it does not make sense. As a book translator you work with what is in front of you. I think they must have used a version with the names in it.'" 

Another Dutch translator also refuted claims that the translators altered End Game by mistake. "Why would they choose these particular names out of all of those they could use?" they said. 

"They are very experienced professionals who have so many credits to their name. Why would they risk doing this?"

November 2023: Piers Morgan names the two royals.

Despite reports of the mix-up, no publishers were sharing the names mentioned in the Dutch translation, well until Piers Morgan got involved. 

On an episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, the British broadcaster alleged that the names mentioned in the Dutch copies of Endgame were King Charles III and Princess Kate Middleton.

In the episode, Morgan noted that he doesn’t “believe any racist comments were ever made by any of the royal family,” but he added that UK citizens had a right to know information that Dutch readers were privy to. 

“Frankly, if Dutch people wandering into a bookshop can pick it up and see these names, then you — the British people here, who actually pay for the British royal family — you’re entitled to know, too," he said. 

November 2023: King Charles is asked about the book

During a solo trip to Dubai for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, King Charles was asked how he was in the midst of Endgame being released.

"I’m all right very much, just about,” he told Daily Mail correspondent Rebecca English. The King went on to joke about recently turning 75 years old.  

“‘Having had a rather ancient birthday recently recovering from the shock of that!’”

Kate Middleton and Prince William have since walked the red carpet at the Royal Variety Performance, but they ignored all questions about the release of the book. 

December 2023: Omid Scobie admits it wasn't a "translation" error.

Scobie releases a statement via an op-ed he has written for iNews, confirming it was not a "translation" error, but an early draft.

"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," Scobie wrote.

"Other foreign-language publishers, including in France and Italy, were also doing the same thing, though their versions perfectly replicated the completed work. What I can be sure of is that I edited carefully, took independent legal advice, and the finished book that I submitted was not the version published in the Netherlands."

Now the truth has been revealed.

Feature Image: Getty. 

This article was originally published On December 1, 2023, and has since been updated with new information.

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