Piers Morgan has named two members of the Royal Family who were accused of making a remark about the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son in a new book.
The TV presenter made the remarks on his TalkTV show and social media account, after the two senior royals were named in the Dutch version of a new book – said to have been published due to a “translation error“.
Until the Dutch version of Endgame by Omid Scobie was released on Tuesday, no royal has been named as being behind the alleged comments about Archie’s skin tone.
Mr Scobie’s book was pulled from shelves in the Netherlands the day of publication after early reviewers spotted it mentioned one individual who was said to have questioned how dark Archie’s skin colour might be before he was born.
The name of a second member of the monarchy, alleged to have made the same comment, was then found in the pages of the Dutch edition, titled Final Battle, according to social media.
Read more: Author says he ‘never submitted’ book with names of royals who ‘questioned’ Archie’s skin colour
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The version being sold in English-speaking countries does not name the two royals, with Mr Scobie saying, “laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were” and claiming he was not responsible for the Dutch “error”.
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The book’s publisher said: “Xander Uitgevers is temporarily withdrawing the book Final Battle by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being corrected.”
Mr Morgan justified publicly naming the royals by saying the British public had a “right to know” who they are, as Dutch readers of the book already discovered their identities.
Sharing the Daily Mail front page describing the “outrage” at his actions, Mr Morgan posted on X: “I’m outraged too – that the rest of the British media hasn’t done the same! Why should British people be barred from knowing what Dutch people know about OUR Royal Family?”
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Buckingham Palace has not officially commented on either the Dutch translation saga or Mr Morgan’s remarks, but the Royal Family are said to be taking legal advice and are “considering all options”, according to insiders who spoke to the Mirror.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made the original allegations about a member of the family, without naming the relative, during a bombshell interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
The Sussexes alleged 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”.
In his book, Mr Scobie says two people, not one as Meghan said, made the comment about Archie, widely interpreted as a racist remark.
The claim in 2021 led to a difficult period for the Royal Family, with the now Prince of Wales having to defend the monarchy against accusations of racism, saying: “We’re very much not a racist family.”
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Harry denied the comment about his son was racist during an interview to promote his memoir Spare earlier this year.
When asked by his friend and broadcaster Tom Bradby “wouldn’t you describe that as essentially racist?” the duke replied “no I wouldn’t”.
The two names came to light in letters in the aftermath of the Sussexes’ Winfrey interview, according to Endgame.
Speaking to Dutch TV, Mr Scobie said: “The book is available in a number of languages and unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, but if there have been any translation errors I am sure the publisher has got it under control.
“For me, I edited and wrote the English version; there has never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it.”
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have yet to comment.
