Royal correspondent claims he is not friends with Meghan and Harry as he addresses racist row

Best-selling royal correspondent Omid Scobie has broken his silence on the latest controversy surrounding his new book.

Best-selling royal writer Omid Scobie has broken his silence on the latest controversy surrounding his new book Endgame.

Speaking on Thursday, Scobie denied he was a friend of Harry and Meghan’s and was not a “Sussex mouthpiece”, claiming he “wanted to live in a world where we can scrutinise the Royal Family”.

“I have never sat down with Meghan privately for interviews, I have never exchanged information with Meghan, I’m not in their private world,” he said.

“This book is written to sit at the heart of the conversation about the purpose and future of the Royal Family. Harry and Meghan are irrelevant to the future of the Royal Family.

“I have very little interest in what they’re doing in California.”

Appearing on ITV’s This Morning in the UK, Scobie was asked about the Dutch translation of his book, which appeared to name the two alleged “royal racists”.

“I wrote and edited the English version of the book with one publisher. That then gets licensed to other publishers,” he said, adding that it wasn’t a publicity stunt.

“I’m as frustrated as everyone else.”

Scobie claims that when Meghan was a working member of the royal family she was “misrepresented”, blaming widespread “xenophobia”.

Endgame - Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival by Omid Scobie

“A lot of it was steeped in xenophobia, misogyny and prejudice, and I’ve always said that very loudly from the start,” he said.

“It’s the thing that has made me a target for many people in terms of someone who is just seen as like some mouthy fan of her rather than perhaps OK, I’m a mixed race member of the press pack and I’ve got something different to say about it.”

In an earlier interview with Good Morning ahead of the book’s release Scobie said he did know which royals made comments about Harry and Meghan’s son Archie.

Best-selling royal correspondent Omid Scobie has broken his silence on the latest controversy surrounding his new book.

On Wednesday Piers Morgan revealed King Charles III and Kate Middleton were named in a Dutch version of Scobie’s book as the royals who allegedly voiced “concerns” about Archie’s skin colour.

In the book, Scobie claims Markle, 42, wrote private letters to Charles, her husband’s father, naming two royals who took part in alleged “troubling” conversations surrounding her and Harry’s then-unborn son’s complexion.

In the final edition of the book — which covers the state of the British monarchy following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022 — Scobie does not name the family members who were said to have questioned the tone of Archie’s skin due to libel laws.

Princess Kate and King Charles were named as the alleged “royal racists” in a Dutch version of Scobie’s book. (Photo by Frank Augstein / POOL / AFP)

In the book Scobie claims Meghan wrote to Charles to voice her concerns. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The published passage reads, “Even after Meghan and Charles by letter discussed about probable unconscious bias within the family after it was revealed that [redacted] took part in such conversations about Archie, [redacted] has avoided discussing the subject with [redacted].”

However, several copies of the book that were translated to Dutch and released in Holland had the names printed.

Morgan, 58, explained to his viewers that although he doesn’t “believe any racist comments were ever made by any of the royal family,” he felt that his fellow citizens had a right to know information that only a handful of readers from another country were inadvertently privy to.“Frankly, if Dutch people wandering into a bookshop can pick it up and see these names, then you — the British people here, who actually pay for the British royal family — you’re entitled to know, too.”

Harry and Meghan with their children Archie and Lilibet ALEXI LUBOMIRSKI/The Times

Xander Publishers announced Tuesday that it received a request from the United States to abruptly halt sales of the book.

“I can’t talk about the details,” a spokesperson for the publishing house said in a statement.

“We have, however, received a request to put the title on hold, and that is what we have done. We are awaiting further instructions. I do not know how long this will be.”

Markle first made the allegation during her sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

The former actress would not say who the alleged conversations were with, but she claimed there were “several” about the potential colour of Archie’s skin.

“About how dark your baby is going to be?” a stunned Winfrey asked, prompting Markle — who is bi-racial — to reply, “Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.”

Asked about the comments later in the interview, Harry, 39, refused to elaborate much more.

With Page Six.