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Piers Morgan has named two senior members of the royal family who are alleged to have raised questions about the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son before he was born.
Omid Scobie’s book Endgame was released this week and contained claims that two royals made derogatory comments about Meghan and Harry’s son Archie.
In the UK and US versions, the identities of the two were not given, but a version of the book on sale in the Netherlands included an extra paragraph that identified them, and as a result, thousands of copies of the book are expected to be pulped there.
Now, in an eight-and-a-half-minute section on his TV show, Morgan stated the pair’s names, adding: “If Dutch people wandering into a bookshop can see these names, then you, the British people who actually pay for the royal family are entitled to know, too.”
The “spiteful” book by Scobie, who is believed to be close to Harry and Meghan, had poured fuel on flames, Morgan claimed. He said he would not believe the allegations without evidence.
The Independent has chosen not to identify the two royals at the centre of the row.
Piers Morgan delivers his tirade
(TalkTV)
Speculation has grown that the fiasco over the publication of the book in the Netherlands was a stunt designed to boost sales.
Royal commentator Michael Cole told GB News: “It’s one thing if it was an innocent error by the Dutch publishers. It’s quite another if this was a publicity stunt to sell more copies of this book.
“Making the charge of racism is pernicious. It’s an easy charge to make and it’s extremely difficult to refute because you have to prove a negative. And whether that’s a royal person or anybody else, it’s a very ugly allegation to make.”
Royal biographer Omid Scobie
(BBC Newsnight)
The Duke and Duchess first made the claims about their family members when they were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
The duchess said: “In those months when I was pregnant… we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their interview with Oprah Winfrey
(PA Media)
The couple refused to identify the royal involved – at that stage only one person – but said it was not the late Queen or her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
A year before the furore, which rocked the British monarchy, the couple had left the UK to live near Los Angeles.
Royal journalist Rick Evers, who has read the Dutch translation of the book, said that the name of the first royal was “very specific”, and added there was also a second name mentioned elsewhere that was “a little bit vague”.
However, Scobie insists the identification of the royals was simply a “translation error” in his scathing takedown of the Windsors.
“Having only written and edited the English version of Endgame, I can only comment on that manuscript – which does not name the two individuals who took part in the conversation,” he said.
Royal experts have questioned whether it is possible to “mistranslate two names”.
The Independent has approached Buckingham Palace for comment.
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