Omid Scobie's Royal Family Book Hits Major Roadblock Abroad — The Rumored Reason Is So Juicy

Omid Scobie is a long-time royal reporter, and his 2023 book "Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival" goes in-depth into palace scandals and drama in recent years, including the rift between Prince Harry and the rest of the royal family. The book has caused a stir overseas, though not in quite the way we would have guessed. It turns out that the Dutch version of the book has been taken off the shelves since it is apparently different from other versions in a small but very vital way.

The difference comes in the section about who in the royal family reportedly wondered about what skin color Harry and Meghan's first baby would have — the Dutch version includes a name of the supposed royal in question, which is reportedly not present in other versions of the book. Publishers in the Netherlands have confirmed the sales halt, saying that "an error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified," per BBC.

Omid Scobie claimed in his book "Endgame" that two people in the family talked about baby Archie and how dark his skin might be, and Scobie knew who they were but wasn't going to out them. After the Dutch version of the book got pulled, he went on a Dutch talk show and said, "There's never been a version that I've produced that has names in it," as reported by the Independent.

In Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021, they revealed that someone in the royal family had questioned how dark their baby's skin might be. While they told the story, Harry and Meghan didn't name the family member in question and stated that they don't plan to name them. At the time, we knew who it definitely wasn't — Harry clarified to Oprah that it wasn't Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip. According to Dutch news source RTL Nieuws, the translation named the current King Charles III.

Scobie is also the co-author of "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family," released in 2020. "Endgame," without even counting the Dutch mistranslation issue, is at times quite critical of the royal family behind the scenes, and Scobie wasn't afraid to pull back the curtain on what he knows about the royals. "I realize [writing the book] closes the door in many places and burns bridges," he explained to Vanity Fair. "I also think that it's the right time to tell this story."

Author Omid Scobie, in separating himself from the glaring error in his book, also told the BBC, "Unfortunately I can't speak Dutch so I haven't seen the copy for myself, so if there have been any translation errors I'm sure the publisher's got it under control." On November 29, the Independent also reported on a statement released by the publisher which claimed, "The rectified edition of Eindstrijd by Omid Scobie will be in bookstores on Friday 8 December." The title "Eindstrijd" is the Dutch word for "Endgame." Independent also quoted the company's statement, "Xander Uitgevers temporarily removed the book from sale, due to an error that occurred in the Dutch edition." 

As reported by EuroNews, while the royal family is often reticent to make public statements, Prince William reacted to the controversy by declaring, "We are very much not a racist family."