Omid Scobie has refused to apologise to the Royal Family after the King and Princess of Wales were named in his new book as the senior royals alleged to have questioned the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan’s son before he was born.
The royal biographer has been at the centre of a media storm after copies of Endgame were temporarily pulled from shelves in the Netherlands over what the publisher, Xander Uitgevers, called an “error”.
When asked on Thursday if he wanted to apologise to the Royal Family, the 42-year-old said: “It is not for me to apologise, as I still want to know what has happened.
“[The buck] does not stop with me, there are irresponsible people in this country that have broken the law and repeated names that should never have been broken.”
Having previously insisted that he never submitted a book that included the names, Mr Scobie swore on Thursday that the incident was not part of a publicity stunt.
“On my and my family’s life,” he said, when quizzed by Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire.
He added: “It is serious, I feel hurt by some of the conspiracy theories that this is a publicity stunt and that I am in cahoots with my ‘pal’ – all of this is frustrating.”
The writer said he has received 20 death threats in the past week due to the scandal.
“Having done this job full-time for six years, I am used to it,” he said. “The skin is thick, but it is sad that has become the norm.”
The unsubstantiated allegation against the Royal Family was first made by the Duchess of Sussex in her March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey in which she said a senior member raised “concerns” about her son Archie’s skin colour before he was born.
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Mr Scobie’s book claims that, in the aftermath of the Oprah interview, Meghan wrote a letter to the King expressing concern about unconscious bias in the Royal Family.
In the UK version of Endgame, Mr Scobie wrote that in her letter to the King, Meghan revealed “two identities” of those “involved in the exchange”.
King Charles at COP28 on Friday. Pic: AP
“Laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were,” he wrote in the book.
There has been no evidence that has been published since to suggest the allegations are true.
On Thursday, Mr Scobie reiterated that an investigation has been launched into how the names were included in the translated version of his book and that he “looks forward to finding out more about it”.
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace said it is considering whether it should take action.
