Royal biographer Omid Scobie denies identifying two royals accused of racism in new book

Buckingham Palace is understood to be 'considering all options' in response to the claims in Omid Scobie's book - ITV News' Royal Editor Chris Ship has more

Royal biographer Omid Scobie has defended his book on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, claiming he did not identify two royal family members who allegedly raised questions about Prince Archie's skin colour.

Xander Uitgevers, which published the Dutch-translated version of Endgame, released on November 28, said on Tuesday it was "temporarily removed" from bookshops in the country after the version was purported to name the royals.

On ITV's This Morning on Thursday, Mr Scobie attempted to clarify his relationship with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, insisting he is not "a mouthpiece" for the couple, while also emphasising he did not identify any royal family members in the English version of the book.

"I wrote and edited the English version of the book, with one publisher," Mr Scobie told presenters Craig Doyle and Alison Hammond.

"That then gets licensed to other publishers.

"I obviously can't speak Italian, German, French, Dutch, or any of the other languages that come out, so the only time that you hear about the book is once it's come out in the public domain.

"I'm as frustrated as everyone else. I make it very clear in this book that I, in every way possible, want to adhere to the laws surrounding this subject.

"It's why I've been very careful in how its described in the book and its why I've never spoken about it beyond what I've said in the public domain before."

When asked by Doyle to clarify his relationship with Harry and Meghan, and whether he is "fighting their corner," Mr Scobie responded: "I'm not their friend."

"I've never sat down with Meghan privately for interviews, I've never exchanged information with Meghan. I'm not in their private world in any way whatsoever."

'I'm not their friend,' Omid Scobie attempted to clarify his relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

He suggested the backlash he has faced is because people "simply don't like the narratives I purport in my reporting, because it makes people feel uncomfortable."

"And rather than us engage in healthy conversation and discourse about it, it's easer to sling a nickname at me or accuse me of something that is quite frankly not only not true, but also unfair."

Mr Scobie said since the release of the book, his father has been "harassed" and he has personally received death threats.

In the book, Mr Scobie makes several claims about how and why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from being working royals.

Among those is the claim two people, allegedly named in private letters between Charles and Meghan, raised questions about Archie’s skin colour.

ITV News has chosen not to name the two royals named in the Dutch translation.

The pair first made the claim a member of the royal family had asked about their son’s skin colour when they were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

They alleged an unidentified member of the monarchy – but not the late Queen nor her husband, the late Duke of Edinburgh – had, as Meghan said, raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.

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