Second member of the royal family ‘called racist’ in Omid Scobie’s book: Dutch translation of Endgame appears to identify two family members ‘accused of speaking about Archie’s skin colour’ – as publishers desperately make copies

Two members of the royal family appear to have been named as the ‘royal racists’ in the Dutch translation of Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame, it was claimed today.

Dutch royal journalist Rick Evers revealed on ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the first name was ‘very specific’ while the second was ‘a bit vague’.

It comes after Mr Scobie’s book was withdrawn from sale in the Netherlands yesterday after apparently naming one of the ‘royal racists’. The author’s Dutch publishers said they had been instructed by American bosses to put sales ‘on hold’ at the eleventh hour.

Thousands of copies of Endgame, which was published worldwide yesterday and received scathing reviews for its revenge on the royal family, are in danger of being pulverized.

In the English-language edition, Scobie does not mention the royal family, which Meghan accuses of raising “concerns” about the skin color of her future son Archie.

But the book claims that in her letters to discuss the situation, the Duchess claims similar comments were made by a second person in the royal family.

In the English version, Mr Scobie says he knows the names of both people, but ‘the laws in the UK prevent me from reporting who they were’. The same sentence appears in the Italian edition.

However, a page from a review copy of the book sent to Dutch journalists this week clearly points the finger at a high-ranking royal family.

Referring to the letters discussing the matter, it states dramatically: ‘But in those private letters an identity was revealed and confirmed: [The Mail has redacted the name concerned and will not be repeating it].’

It is unclear why a foreign language version of the book would mention a specific individual, while no other edition appears to do so. And it must be emphasized that there is no evidence that the statement itself is even true.

Mr Evers, who yesterday revealed for the first time that the book had identified one of the ‘royal racists’, told Good Morning Britain today: ‘The book names two leading members of the royal family.’

Host Richard Madeley then asked, “Can I be clear about this, there are two names in the book?”

And Mr Evers replied: ‘Yes, the first is very specific. The second is a bit vague, if this person is really involved in the story. But the first one is very clear and the official way was that it was a translation problem. There are some discussions about how these passages were reported in the book. I would say: how can you mistranslate a name?’

Mr. Madeley then said, “Well, I wanted to ask you how to mistranslate a name. You can mistranslate a word or a sentence, but a name? Do you buy the explanation from the publishers that it is a translation error?

Mr Evers answers: ‘I can’t believe it. I went through the book with a colleague of yours and we noticed that some passages were missing from the English version. As a sentence, five sentences between the first and third parts that were in the Dutch version.

“So something was erased in the work that was done on the book. So my suggestion is that… Omid’s official words were that it was “never in Omid’s production”.

‘That’s a way of saying: if it’s a production, then it’s produced – well, it’s my theory – but then a manuscript was never made, but of course it was used. So I think it was in the manuscript, but legal agents said it’s not a good idea to mention these names because that’s where we’re sitting.”

The Dutch version not only contains the specific name of the royal family, but contains no mention of Mr Scobie’s claim in the English version that he is prohibited by law from repeating it.

A spokesperson for the Dutch publisher, Xander, told the Mail: ‘You’re right, but I can’t talk about the details. However, we received a request to put the title on hold and we did so.’

When asked when that request was received, she explains: “Just now. We await further instructions. I don’t know how long this will be. You need to speak to the American agent.”

They later claimed it was an ‘error’ and ‘currently being fixed’.

Adding to the confusion, Mr Scobie told RTL Boulevard that he did not include a name in his manuscript.

He added: ‘Unfortunately I don’t speak Dutch. But if there are any translation errors, the publisher will correct them.

‘I wrote the English version. There was no version of me that mentioned names.”

HarperCollins in New York, Mr. Scobie’s publisher, did not respond to requests for comment.

Two major bookstores in central Amsterdam said they had not received delivery yesterday as expected, although they offered to order a copy for delivery “in about a week.”

There was no comment from Buckingham Palace, which has treated the book with dismissive silence. A royal source told the Mail yesterday that it was ‘thoroughly riddled with errors that discredited it as a piece of journalism’.

The furore started yesterday after a Dutch royal journalist leaked the name on social media.

That meant that as Scobie, 42, happily waved to photographers in New York and embarked on a round of talk show appearances to announce his new book, the supposedly concerned royal’s name was shared on social media — though most reactions were incredulous and sympathetic.

The original claim about racism was made by Meghan in her infamous March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, when she revealed there were “several conversations” between herself, Harry and members of the royal family about “how dark” their unborn baby Archie would be are.

‘During those months when I was pregnant [there were] concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be at birth,” Meghan said in the interview.

Harry added: ‘I’m never going to share that conversation. It was awkward, I was a bit shocked.” Meghan added: “I think it would be very damaging to them.”

The resulting furor prompted Prince William to publicly declare that they were “not a racist family at all.”

Harry later clarified that the royal family was not Queen Elizabeth II or the Duke of Edinburgh.

In his new book, Scobie refers to an exchange of letters between Meghan and her father-in-law, which reportedly addressed the Duchess’s “concerns about unconscious racial bias in the Royal Family” and contained “damning details.”

Mr Scobie goes on to say that Charles first contacted Meghan in the spring of 2021 to express his sadness at the “distance” between them and his disappointment that the couple chose to make their words so public.

Despite the obvious inferences in her interview, Scobie falls over herself to emphasize that Meghan never used the words racist or racism when speaking about the event or in her private letters.