'Sussex camp' make 'hundreds of changes' to new version of Omid Scobie's book

11 December 2023 , 09:45

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The Sussexes are alleged to have made a string of changes to Omid Scobie's new book (Image: Getty Images)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to have made "hundreds of changes" to the new version of Omid Scobie's book Endgame following the fallout from the Royal race row.

Last month British author and journalist Omid Scobie released the bombshell book titled Endgame about "an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to great lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family".

But chaos ensued when the two senior royals, who allegedly raised "concerns" and had "conversations" about the colour of Prince Archie's skin before he was born, were named in a Dutch translation of Scobie's scathing new book.

READ MORE: Omid Scobie in Royal racists U-turn as he admits 'early' manuscript was sent

Omid Scobie co-authored Finding Freedom, the book about Harry and Meghan's departure rom the Royal Family (Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)

The two names emerged following Harry and Meghan's 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview where they made the bombshell claims. Scobie strongly refuted naming the two members of the Royal Family in his book, but soon made a U-turn that saw him admit that he did name King Charles and the Princess of Wales in an "early" version of the tome.

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And now Dutch journalist Rick Evers - who originally uncovered the two names in the book - has claimed that a re-released version - doesn't name Charles and Kate but has had "hundreds of changes" made to it.

According to Mr Evers, the newly published Dutch-language version and the first edition shows that names of the two family members alleged to have voiced concerns about Prince Archie’s skin colour have been removed.

Although "hundreds of changes" are said to have been made, some of them are considered as "small" with Queen Camilla changed to "Camilla, Queen Consort", according to reports.

Mr Evers has also claimed that in the original version Scobie wrote "I" with this now changed to say "ABC News" as the citation.

Meanwhile, it is also claimed that King Charles made “questionable deals” and had “suspicious links and … poor judgment”, with the new edition of the book stating that the King has “questionable choices”. And Prince William was allegedly referred to as "lazy Wills" in the first Dutch translation of the book, with him now having a "workshy image".

Mr Evers has expressed his views on the edits, with him revealing that he believes the edits are "from the Sussex camp", due to sources close to Harry and Meghan being quoted differently.

Scobie denied naming the two Royals, but later made a U-turn (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Endgame has hit the headlines constantly since it was released (Jonathan Buckmaster)

Scobie initially denied naming the two senior royals in his original manuscript and blamed an error for the names appearing in the book. Speaking on a Dutch television show, Scobie said: The book is in several languages, and unfortunately I do not speak Dutch. But if there are translation errors, I’m sure the publishers will have it under control.

"I wrote and edited the English version,” he added. “There’s never been no version that I’ve produced that has names in it.”

He later U-turned and claimed: "Unbeknownst to me at the time, early and uncleared text was provided to the Dutch publisher in order for them to start work on the translation, with the understanding that their translation would be updated to reflect the final version of the book I officially submitted.

"Other foreign-language publishers, including in France and Italy, were also doing the same thing, though their versions perfectly replicated the completed work. "What I can be sure of is that I edited carefully, took independent legal advice, and the finished book that I submitted was not the version published in the Netherlands"

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Before Scobie's U-turn, Saskia Peeters, who translated the Dutch version of Endgame said: "As a translator, I translate what is in front of me. The names of the royals were there in black and white. I did not add them. I just did what I was paid to do and that was translate the book from English into Dutch."

And Dutch publishers Xander Uitgevers were quick to put sales of the book on hold temporarily over what it called an "error", with thousands of copies scrapped.

A spokesperson for Xander Uitgevers has since spoken out following Scobie's recent U-turn. The spokesperson said: "Omid Scobie's explanation in his column in iNews about the Dutch editorial process of the Dutch edition of Endgame is factually incorrect and we do not recognize ourselves in his representation of the events. Xander Uitgevers is not allowed to say anything about the content, we therefore refer to the agent UTA."

The Royal Family were said to be "considering all options" including legal action after Royal sources hit back at the “wildly inaccurate” claims, calling them “a mendacious slur”.

When the Sussexes made their explosive allegations to Oprah, in an interview broadcast around the world, they set in train a public debate about who in the royal family might harbour such racially charged views. In multicultural modern Britain such allegations against the monarchy generated debate on this matter of such public importance with Scobie's new book claiming to add to that public debate.

Mollie Quirk