Dutch translator of Omid Scobie’s Endgame denies making error: ‘The names were there in black and white’

Royal author Omid Scobie insists he never submitted a book with names in it as Endgame fallout continues

The Dutch translator for Omid Scobie's Endgame has broken her silence to insist the names of the royals who allegedly raised questions about Prince Archie’s skin colour were "there in black and white" in the manuscript she was sent.

The royal author’s second book was pulled from the shelves in the Netherlands after the translated version identified the two royals said to have questioned the skin tone of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s child before he was born.

The publisher dismissed the edition containing the names as a “translation error”. But translator Saskia Peeters, who worked on Scobie‘s latest book, refuted claims she had added the names of the two royals in the Dutch translation of her own accord, despite the English version leaving them out.

“As a translator, I translate what is in front of me,” she told MailOnline. “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.”

Endgame: Omid Scobie breaks silence over naming of alleged ‘royal racists’ in Dutch book (This Morning/ITV)

It comes after Scobie insisted during an interview on ITV’s This Morning that he did not write the names of the royals in Endgame.

Scobie was accused of being behind a "stunt to sell books", with co-host Craig Doyle saying: “That just seems bizarre to everybody out there because you don’t accidentally put in a name, and you can’t put it down to mistranslation, can you? It does feel like a stunt to sell books – which I understand.”

Mr Scobie said he wrote the English language version of his book but does not speak the other languages it was translated into, “so the only time you hear about the book is once it’s come out in the public domain. I’m as frustrated as everyone else”.

He claimed: “The reality, though, is that this is information that is not privy just to me, journalists across Fleet Street have known those names for a long time. I have never submitted a book that had their names in it, so I can only talk about my version.”

Prince Harry and Meghan told Oprah Winfrey an unidentified member of the monarchy asked about how dark Archie’s skin would be (PA)

Dutch journalist Rick Evers, who has read the translated book, revealed on Wednesday that the name of the first royal in the Dutch translation is “very specific” while the second one was “a little bit vague”.

While The Independent has chosen not to name the royals, TV host Piers Morgan controversially confirmed their identities during an eight-and-a-half-minute takedown of Endgame and its author on Wednesday.

The presenter, who said he does not believe the accusations of racism within the royal family are true, also said the silence from the Sussexes was “more than deafening”.

He demanded that Scobie or the “Sussexes finally come forward with the evidence for their allegations” of racism against the royals,.

But the royal author brushed off Mr Morgan’s scathing criticism on This Morning as he said he did not find the TalkTV host’s comments “particularly credible”.