A Dutch version of Omid Scobie's new book "Endgame: Inside The Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival" identified one of the individuals who raised concerns over the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son, Prince Archie.
The author mentioned in his book that the Duchess of Sussex named two people involved in the issue in private letters she sent to King Charles III. But he did not reveal their names as laws in the U.K. prevented him from "reporting who they were".
However, a Dutch translation of the controversial tome has allegedly named one of the two royals who raised concerns over how dark Prince Archie's skin would be before his birth. A page taken from a review copy of "Endgame" sent to Dutch journalists contained the name.
Xander Publishers confirmed with the Daily Mail that it had received a last-minute order from America to put the sales of the book on hold. A spokesman for the Dutch publisher said: "You are right but I can't talk about the details. We have, however, received a request to put the title on hold and that is what we have done."
The representative added: "We are awaiting further instructions. I do not know how long this will be. You should speak to the US agent."
Meanwhile, Scobie has denied responsibility over the leak and blamed it on "translation error". He told Dutch chat show "RTL Boulevard": "The book is in several languages, and unfortunately I do not speak Dutch. But if there are translation errors, I'm sure the publishers will have it under control."
He added: "I wrote and edited the English version. There's never been no version that I've produced that has names in it."
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry talked about the alleged "racist" remark during their Oprah interview in March 2021. She said there were "several conversations" about "how dark" their baby could be before he was born.
Prince Harry refused to share details although he admitted that he found the conversation "awkward" and that he was "a bit shocked". When asked to name who were involved in the conversations, the Duchess of Sussex refused to say as it "would be very damaging for them".
Prince William has since told reporters that the royals are "very much not a racist family". Prince Harry has also since denied that Meghan Markle called the royals racist. He said the individuals involved showed unconscious bias and not racism over their comments about Prince Archie's skin colour.
