Dutch version of controversial book on British royal family taken off shelves in Netherlands

A new book on the British royal family has been pulled from shops in the Netherlands amid reports that a translation error revealed the identity of a family member embroiled in a race row over Prince Harry and Meghan’s first child.

“Endgame,” or “Eindstrijd” in Dutch, the latest book from British writer Omid Scobie was released this week.

The Dutch translation was published in the Netherlands by Xander Uitgevers, which said it was “temporarily withdrawing” the book from sale in a statement on its website Tuesday.

“An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified,” adds the statement.

The Dutch translation reportedly revealed the name of a member of the royal family alleged to have questioned the skin color of Prince Harry and Meghan’s son Archie before he was born, according to PA Media.

In March 2021, the Duchess of Sussex revealed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that husband Harry told her that there was concern within the royal family about her baby’s skin tone.

There were several “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born,” she said.

“That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him,” Meghan added, declining to reveal who was involved in those conversations. “That would be very damaging to them,” she said.

Winfrey later said that Harry had told her the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip had not made the comments.

In Scobie’s new book, which has received scathing reviews from British press, he makes a number of claims about the Windsor clan. The English-language edition does not name the royal who raised questions about Archie’s skin color but suggests similar remarks were also made by a second individual within the royal household, according to PA Media.

While the publisher has said a translation issue is behind the book being pulled off shelves, it’s unclear why there would be additional detail in a foreign language translation.

After the Dutch edition was taken off shelves, Scobie told local TV channel RTL Boulevard that “there has never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it.”

“The book is available in a number of languages and unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, but if there have been any translation errors I am sure the publisher has got it under control,” he said.

The US-based author previously co-wrote “Finding Freedom,” a 2020 biography of the couple which covered them favorably.