Omid Scobie: Endgame author says early draft text to blame for the royal naming error

Author Omid Scobie, whose book trigged a row of allegations of racism in the family, said an earlier version of his book is to blame for naming the two royals. 

He said an "early and uncleared" version of Endgame was sent to the Dutch publisher to be translated, but - but not by him and without his knowledge. 

He said the only publisher he had worked with directly was the company in charge of the UK and US versions, and that responsibility for foreign language editions had been outsourced to others. However, the publisher, Xander Uitgevers has rejected Scobie's explanation of events.

The Dutch translation included the names of King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales, who are reported to have allegedly discussed the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's unborn baby. But in the English version of the book, Scobie claimed there had been two people involved and that he knew their identities, but he said for legal reasons the names could not be disclosed.

Writing in an opinion piece for the i, he said: "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.

"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."

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle claimed in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey that an unidentified member of the monarchy - but not Queen Elizabeth II or the Duke of Edinburgh - raised "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born" while she was pregnant with son Archie.

Buckingham Palace has not officially commented on the latest controversy surrounding Mr Scobie's book.