Omid Scobie ‘frustrated’ that names of ‘royal racists’ were included in book
Omid Scobie insisted on Thursday he was “frustrated” that the names of two so-called royal “racists” had been published in the Dutch edition of his book, and denied it was a publicity stunt.
The royal author is at the centre of a scandal after the identities of the two senior members of the Royal family alleged to have speculated about the colour of Prince Archie’s skin were included in the Dutch translation of his book, Endgame.
Scobie appeared on ITV’s This Morning to defend the book, which contains many controversial allegations.
He has previously claimed that the names of the two royals who the Duchess of Sussex accused of unconscious bias had made their way into the Dutch edition because of a translation error.
However, presenter Craig Doyle questioned how that could have happened, describing it as “bizarre”. He said: “You don’t accidentally put in a name, and you can’t put it down to a mistranslation. It does feel like a stunt to sell books.”
Scobie replied: “I wish that was the case. It’s still being investigated. I wrote and edited the English version of the book with one publisher and that was then licensed to other publishers.
“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 on this subject. It’s why I’ve been very careful in how it’s described in the book and what I’ve said in the public domain before.”
The author claimed many journalists had known the names of the two royals for a long time.
“I have never submitted a book that had their names in it,” he added. “I can only talk about my version. I’m obviously frustrated, I wouldn’t say I was upset about it because I’ve been living in a bubble of no emotion for the last 10 days.”
Scobie admitted that he knew reaction to the book would be “heated and controversial”, but claimed there had been “unfair attacks” on him personally which amounted to “an assassination on my character”.
He blamed the criticism on the fact that “people don’t like the narratives in my reporting because it makes them feel uncomfortable”.
Scobie also defended his description of the Princess of Wales as a “Stepford-like royal wife” insisting he had also written many complimentary things about her.
He added on her demeanour: “If you compare it to everyday folk, there is a very reserved, almost Stepford-like, approach to the position.”
Scobie repeated his claims that he was not a friend of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and had never interviewed them.
“I have very little interest in what they are doing in California,” he said, insisting that he wrote the book “without fear or favour to anyone.”
