Omid Scobie’s Book 'Endgame' Published, Mentioned in Dutch Edition
Publisher Recalls Book "Translation Error Occurred"
A royal official who sparked a racial discrimination controversy by discussing how dark the skin color of the British Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby would be has been claimed to be King Charles III and Crown Princess Kate Middleton.
On the 1st (local time), the British BBC reported that in the Dutch edition of the book about the royal family titled 'Endgame,' two royal officials who discussed the skin color before the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first child were identified as Charles III and the Crown Princess.
The book, written by Omid Scobie, a biographer known as a 'spokesperson' close to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, was simultaneously published in several countries including the UK and the US on the 28th of last month (local time). However, the issue arose in the Dutch edition.
The Dutch edition explicitly named King Charles III and the Crown Princess as the royal officials who reportedly questioned the skin color of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby.
Prior to the book's release, Scobie stated in an interview that he could not reveal the real names of those involved in the conversation due to British law. He also claimed that he never included real names when writing or editing the English version. However, the Dutch translator reportedly insists that they translated the manuscript as received.
In a BBC interview, Scobie said, "A full investigation is underway to clarify how the names ended up in the Dutch edition." Regarding this, the BBC reported, "The publisher emphasized that it was a translation issue, and it seems that there are 'additional sentences' only in the Dutch edition. However, it is unclear how this was mistakenly added."
The publisher of the Dutch edition quickly recalled the book and stated, "An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being corrected."
The conversation about skin color within the royal family first became controversial when Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's wife, mentioned it in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. Although Markle did not explicitly use the term 'racial discrimination,' she revealed her feelings by saying, "The royal family did not want our son Archie, born in May 2019, to be a prince because of his skin color," and that she even felt "impulses of extreme despair." At the time, Markle said, "There were conversations about how dark the baby's skin might be when he was born. It was about him not being given a prince title and not being guaranteed security measures."
Meanwhile, Scobie's newly published book reportedly also contains content suggesting that King Charles III is anxious about his son's behavior. It mentions that Charles III held his first military inspection, but related articles were pushed off the front page because Prince William gave an interview to The Times. The book also includes content indicating that Prince William regards Charles III as an underqualified transitional king.
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