Omid Scobie’s book Endgame was released on Tuesday 28 November. Even before it came out it was making waves in the UK as journalists were reporting on extracts. Much of the debate pre-release was centred around the relationship between Omid Scobie and the Sussexes.
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Then the book was released and the tabloids’ outrage continued. In their view, Endgame is a character attack on members of the Royal Family and the monarchy itself. And then something unexpected happened: the Dutch translation appeared to reveal the name or names of the royal who raised questions about Prince Archie’s skin colour.
Of course, the press cannot write the name of this royal but Piers Morgan decided to name them on Talk TV. However, things are not adding up.
Piers Morgan names two royals
On his show Piers Morgan didn’t hold back. He said:
I’m gonna put an end to all this cr*p. I’m gonna tell you the names of the two senior royals who are named in that Dutch version of the book. Because frankly if Dutch people walking into a book shop can see these names then you, the British people, are entitled to know too.
Morgan then proceeds to give the names of the two royals. In the same monologue, Piers Morgan accuses Omid Scobie of lying and claims that the Sussexes, specifically the Duchess, are feeding information to the writer.
What doesn’t add up
Before we go into details, we must be completely transparent and say that we haven’t had access to the Dutch book. However, we were aware of the claims about the Dutch edition revealing the ‘racist royal’. Singular. Because of that awareness, we have seen the page on which the revelation is made.
When that page went viral, Scobie denied naming names in the book, no matter the version of the script. Therefore, he denies all involvement in that person being named. In the English version of the book the paragraph which contains the name of the first royal doesn’t appear. Instead there is the following sentence:
Laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were.
When this whole thing went viral, it was widely reported that it concerned a‘racist royal’. As SkyNews puts it, Dutch readers could see that an ‘individual’, singular, was named. So how did we go from one royal being named in Scobie’s book as the person raising concerns about Prince Archie’s skin colour to Piers Morgan naming two royals?
Well that’s where things get confusing. In an article published on 29 November by SkyNews, you can spot the number of royals double in a matter of lines. The intro of the article says:
The Dutch version of Endgame appeared to name a member of the Royal Family as the person who raised concern over the skin colour of Meghan's then-unborn son.
Further down in the same article you can read:
The book appeared to name two royals who the Sussexes claim raised concern over the skin colour of Meghan's then-unborn son
Moreover, further research has shown that the Dutch journalist, Rick Evers, who first reported on the ‘racist royal’ being mentioned in the translation has actually specified that the mention of the second royal named (also mentioned by Piers Morgan) is ‘a little bit vague’.
Speaking to GB News, Evers’ full quote states:
The first one is very specific. The second one is a little bit vague, if this person is really involved in the story.
Finally, we have scoured the internet in order to find the excerpt that reveals the identity of the second royal because, as we’ve already mentioned, their name does not appear on the page that first went viral. What we have found doesn’t corroborate Piers Morgan or the tabloids’ claim that this royal is described as being racist.
Indeed, from what we found, the royal's name is mentioned in a sentence that states that they wince when Meghan Markle’s name is spoken.
In addition, the multiplication of the alleged ‘racist’ royals appears to have happened in the span of a day. For instance, the front covers of Metro and Daily Mirror on 29 November showed the singular with the words ‘racist royal’. On the same day GB News wrote ‘racist royals’. Plural.
Of course we cannot know for certain what the Dutch book says but it seemed relevant to point out the divergence and fast change of information. It is also uncertain how the name, or names, showed up in a Dutch translation.
Read more:
⋙ Royal experts agree, reconciliation between Prince Harry and the Royal Family now looks impossible
⋙ Prince Harry: The Duke received a Thanksgiving message from his uncle
Sources:
GB News: Second member of Royal Family 'named as racist' in Dutch translation of Endgame
Reddit: Any Dutch Sinners out there who can translate these pages?
SkyNews: Endgame: Publisher of book that appeared to name royal as racist 'called journalist within one hour' of his writing about it
