The Dutch version of the English book Endgame, by royalty author Omid Scobie, has caused quite a stir in the British royal family. Where Endgame remains mysterious about the chaos within the British monarchy, winds Final battle It makes no bones about it: the translation mistakenly mentions two names of British royals who had made racist statements.
The statements were about Archie, the then unborn son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In the Dutch edition of the book, King Charles and Princess Kate are mentioned as the two family members who made statements about Archie’s skin color. The passage where this is mentioned states that there had been “several conversations” within the family, without Meghan and Harry, in which “concerns were expressed” about the dark skin color their unborn son would have “and how that would appear” to the British royal family.
Book off the shelves
Although this passage also appears in the original version of the book, only the Dutch translation mentions the names of Charles and Kate. Scobie doesn’t know how that could have happened. While the blame was initially placed on the translation process, a comparison of the English and Dutch texts does not reveal that it was a matter of mixing up some sentences or vocabulary; the line mentioning Kate and Charles does not exist in the English version. So it is not mistranslated, but seems to have been added.
The Dutch publisher of Final battle, Xander Uitgevers, immediately removed the book from the shelves when it became known that these names were mentioned. In a short statement the publisher only says that an error has occurred in the Dutch edition and that a correction is being made. Scobie says that currently is being investigated how the two names ended up in the Dutch version. The author does say that the information about the racist statements is not only known to him. “Journalists in Fleet Street [synoniem voor Britse pers, red.] have known these names for a long time. We have all followed a kind of code of conduct around the way we talk about it.”
Ophrah Winfrey
During a high-profile interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, in which Meghan and Harry opened up for the first time about the reason behind their departure from the royal family, Meghan already claimed that at least one member of the royal family had had these conversations. The interview further fueled the long-standing discussion about racism in the British royal family.
But neither Harry nor Meghan went further than that; the couple refused to say who within the royal family had made these statements. When Winfrey asked Harry about the conversation about the skin color of their children, which Meghan had previously told her about, Harry replied: “I will never say anything about that.”
The late Queen Elizabeth responded to the accusations of racism in a short statement. Although the palace called the issue “concerning”, it also hinted that this was not true according to the royal family: “While some memories will be different, they will be taken seriously and addressed by the family behind closed doors. ”
For two years since the interview with Oprah Winfrey, the question was: which royals were concerned about Archie’s skin color? Meghan refused to tell Winfrey, because she said it would be “very damaging to them.” But now the genie seems to be out of the bottle, and the British royal family is trying with all its might to limit the damage.