Piers Morgan has named the two Royal Family members at the center of Omid Scobie's Endgame "racism" storm. The British broadcaster disclosed the identities of the two royals who reportedly raised "concerns" about the skin color of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son, Archie during the Wednesday episode of "Piers Morgan Uncensored."
Mogan then followed the claim up by posting it to his 8.7million social media followers. On Tuesday, it was revealed that a Dutch translation of Scobie's book, including the names of the people involved, had gone on sale in the Netherlands. The publisher was compelled to withdraw copies amid much-mocked claims that it was an error in translation.
Morgan Bares It All
In the book, Scobie claims that Markle, 42, wrote private letters to Charles, her husband's father, identifying two members of the royal family who were reportedly involved in "troubling" conversations about the potential skin color of her and Harry's yet-to-be-born son, the outlet reported.
In the ultimate edition of the book, which explores the state of the British monarchy after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Scobie refrains from naming the family members who were alleged to have raised concerns about the complexion of Archie due to libel laws.
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]."
Nevertheless, in several copies of the book translated into Dutch and released in Holland, the names were printed, leading to the subsequent withdrawal and destruction of these copies.
Prior to Piers Morgan's disclosure last night, the identities of the two senior royals had not been publicly revealed.
Morgan's Argument
The presenter tried to justify his decision by arguing that he was responding to the perceived witch-hunt prompted by Harry and Meghan's choice to address the race issue without providing context or allowing for a right to reply.
The Royal Family later said the allegations were concerning but noted that "recollections may vary."
Morgan contended that revealing the names would facilitate a more open debate in the UK about the entire controversy, saying, saying: "Because I don't believe any racist comments were ever made by any of the Royal Family, and until there is actual evidence of those comments being made, I will never believe it.
"But now we can start the process of finding out if they ever got uttered, what the context was, and whether there was any racial intent at all – like I say, I don't believe there was. The royals who are named in this book are ..."
This article also refrains from naming the two royals involved and has redacted Morgan's quotes.
Morgan's choice is likely to spark anger and disappointment at Buckingham Palace. The palace had opted not to comment on the controversy ignited by Scobie's book, and it may have been anticipating that discussions on the matter would remain confined to online and social media discourse.
Meanwhile, there was increasing pressure on Scobie last night to clarify how a second member of the Royal Family came to be named in a Dutch translation of his book.
Xander Publishers said on Tuesday that it had received a request from the United States to immediately cease 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 interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. In the interview, the former actress did not disclose the identities of the people involved but claimed that there were "several" discussions about the potential skin color of Archie.
"About how dark your baby is going to be?" a stunned Winfrey asked, prompting Markle — who is biracial — to reply, "Potentially, and what that would mean or look like."
When questioned about these remarks later in the interview, Prince Harry, aged 39, declined to provide further details or elaborate extensively.
"That conversation I am never going to share, but at the time, it was awkward," he said. "I was a bit shocked."
