The naming row that has erupted off the back of Omid Scobie’s bombshell book Endgame will further tear apart the already fragile relationship between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and the Royal Family.
The Dutch version of Scobie’s book named King Charles and Kate, Princess of Wales as the royals who allegedly had concerns regarding the colour of Prince Archie’s skin.
Piers Morgan followed up by identifying the royals named in the book during his television show on Wednesday evening. Since then the King and Kate have been named across the globe including by the BBC, Sky News, the Guardian and the New York Times.
Meghan Markle unleashed several scathing attacks on the Royal Family during an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
Meghan Markle unleashed several scathing attacks on the Royal Family during an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
PA
The Duchess of Sussex claimed that there were “concerns and conversations” within the Royal Family on how dark Archie’s skin colour would be when he was born.
Meghan added that she would not name the Royal Family members as “it would be very damaging to them”.
However, nearly three years later the names of those royals who allegedly made the comments have appeared in the Dutch version of Scobie’s book.
In the build-up to the release of Endgame, the royal author insisted there was no collaboration with the Sussexes on his latest work but confirmed he did know the names of the royals accused of making the comments about Archie.
Sources close to Meghan and Harry stressed they had nothing to do with the bombshell claims made in the book.
Endgame’s coverage of the couple is very sympathetic compared to, at times, ruthless criticism of senior members of the Royal Family including the King, the Prince of Wales and the Princess of Wales.
Scobie previously co-wrote the royal book Finding Freedom, a biography of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s life in the monarchy.
ITV
Scobie previously co-wrote the royal book Finding Freedom, a biography of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s life in the monarchy.
It was confirmed in 2021 that the Duchess of Sussex’s senior aide gave the author “some information” when he was writing his first book.
Meghan apologised in court for failing to remember authorising the senior aide to brief Scobie and his co-author Carolyn Durand when they were working on Finding Freedom.
The Duchess submitted a statement saying she could not remember emails she had sent to her press secretary, Jason Knauf, about the unauthorised book.
From the Royal Family’s perspective, it must be difficult to believe that the Sussexes have had nothing to do with Endgame after a previous collaboration with Scobie was uncovered in court.
As extracts of Endgame began to be released in the build-up to the book’s release, it will have become clear to senior royals that private and personal interactions with the Sussexes were going to be made public.
Scobie wrote that Prince Harry had been left to fend for himself on the day Queen Elizabeth II died and that Prince William had not answered any of his attempts to reach out.
GETTY
In one of the first extracts published Scobie wrote that Prince Harry had been left to fend for himself on the day Queen Elizabeth II died and that Prince William had not answered any of his attempts to reach out.
The Royal Family would have also expected the contents of the letters that King Charles and Meghan Markle exchanged discussing her concern about the alleged comments about Archie to remain private.
However, in April 2023, the Telegraph reported that Meghan expressed her concerns about unconscious bias within the monarchy in her letter to the King and that she felt the response was unsatisfactory.
Many uncertainties remain within the naming row. It is unclear who told Scobie the names of the accused royals and why they only appeared in the Dutch version of his book.
However, it is almost certain that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s relationship with the Royal Family will have been damaged and possibly beyond repair.
