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The Dutch edition of Omid Scobie’s controversial royal book Endgame has been withdrawn from sale, with its publishers blaming a translation error.
The Dutch edition reportedly had a different version of the section about alleged questions about the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan’s baby.
“An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified,” the publishers said.
The book, published on Tuesday, has been very critical of the Royal Family.
There has been confusion over its international roll-out, with the publishers in the Netherlands, Xander Uitgevers, saying it was “temporarily withdrawing the book”, entitled Eindstrijd in the Dutch version.
At issue seems to be the description of the racism row that followed Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, where the couple talked of facing questions about the skin colour of the baby they were expecting.
Prince Harry and Meghan had declined to name the member of the Royal Family raising this issue – and in the English edition of the book, Mr Scobie had claimed that there had been two people involved.
He claimed to know their identities but had said for legal reasons he wouldn’t disclose them.
The Dutch edition is reported to have included a name – but the book’s publisher is now blaming an embarrassing mistake in the translation of this sensitive section, which has meant a sudden halt to sales.
The response of the book’s author Mr Scobie seems to suggest the Dutch text published in error was not an early draft nor previous version.
“There’s never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it,” he told the Dutch television show, RTL Boulevard.
“Unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, so if there have been any translation errors I’m sure the publisher’s got it under control,” he said.
The book, receiving mixed reviews, presents unflattering portraits of several of the Royal Family, including Prince William and Catherine and King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The author has been seen as having links to Prince Harry and Meghan and the new book appeared to be more sympathetic to the position of the California-based couple and their decision to move from the UK to the US.
Buckingham Palace has declined to respond to the book’s claims or the removal of the Dutch edition, and representatives of Prince Harry and Meghan have also not commented.