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Bombshell royal book names ‘royal racist’

Harry and Meghan with baby Archie in 2021.

Harry and Meghan with baby Archie in 2021.

A bombshell book about the royal family has been pulled from Dutch shelves after apparently naming the “royal racist” who was worried about the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s unborn son.

Xander, publisher of the Dutch version of Omid Scobie’s bombshell biography Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, confirmed on Tuesday (US time) it received a request from the US to abruptly halt sales in the Netherlands.

“[We are] temporarily withdrawing the book by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified,” it said in a statement.

Thousands of copies of the book are apparently being pulped.

The final edition of the book, which covers the state of the British monarchy following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, does not name the family member – who was said to have wondered “how dark Archie’s skin might be”, according to claims by Meghan in her tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview.

An early copy sent to Dutch journalists reportedly did include the name. Many publications have chosen to redact it.

In the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s two-hour sit-down with Winfrey in 2021, Meghan said the couple’s son Archie, now four, had been denied the title of prince and that there were concerns within the royal family about “about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.

She declined to say who had voiced such concerns, as did Harry.

“That conversation, I’m never going to share,” he said.

They did rule out the late queen and her husband, Prince Philip.

Harry’s father, now King Charles, refused to comment on the allegations. The late queen released a now-famous statement suggesting “some recollections may vary”.

“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately,” it said.

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”

In interviews last January to promote his memoir Spare, Harry denied calling the royal family racist. He said the word “racist” was used by the British tabloid press following his and Meghan’s claims.

“The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different,” he said.

“Once it has been acknowledged, or pointed out to you, as an individual or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias. You, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that, in order that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

“Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”

However, Harry did say the conversation came early in his relationship with Meghan.

“That was right at the beginning, when she wasn’t going to get security, when members of my family were suggesting that she carries on acting, because there was not enough money to pay for her, all this sort of stuff,” he told Winfrey.

Previous royal biographies have alleged that the King and his wife, Queen Camilla, had remarked on Archie’s “complexion” and “ginger Afro hair”, respectively.

Britain’s Telegraph reported earlier this year that Meghan wrote to the King, expressing her concerns about an unconscious bias within the royal family, following her Winfrey interview.

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