Palace ‘considers all options’ in royal race row stoked by Omid Scobie’s book Endgame, sources say with King determined to ‘get on with business’ as he lands in Dubai for Cop28
Buckingham Palace is today ‘considering all options’ over the royal race row stoked by Omid Scobie’s ‘poisonous’ new book on the monarchy.
Well-placed sources have told the Daily Mail while King Charles is determined to focus on important state business in Dubai, where he is holding bilateral meetings ahead of giving a keynote opening speech at the COP28 summit on Friday, aides are seriously looking at how they should, if at all, respond.
It comes as a Dutch language edition of Scobie’s book named two royals Meghan accused of ‘unconscious bias’, which was followed up by presenter Piers Morgan last night naming them on live television and subsequently on social media.
The Mail has not chosen to follow suit at this stage.
While it is clear that courtiers will be looking at the various legal options open to them, it is incredibly unlikely that they would actually sue Scobie. They would not want to get into a protracted legal battle.
But a source told the Mail: ‘I understand the palace is considering all options open to them. However the key thing for them is His Majesty responding in the most eloquent way possible by getting on with business and not letting it distract from vastly more important issues regarding the future on the planet and bilaterals with other world leaders including those impacted by the situation in the Middle East.’
Omid Scobie in London today. The Palace is considering ‘all options’ over his book Endgame
King Charles III and President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu during a bilateral meeting in a hotel in Dubai, as they attend the Cop28 summit
The Dutch version of Endgame, which has had to be pulled from bookshops
Other options available to them could be sending out a legal warning to those tempted to further repeat the names, particularly given there has been no confirmation that these are indeed the people concerned or whether there is any truth even to the allegations themselves in the first place.
The other option would be to publicly release a statement, much like the late Queen Elizabeth did in the wake of Harry and Meghan marking their original allegations in their Oprah interview in 2021 when the Duchess of Sussex alleged that a senior royal express their ‘concern’ about her son, Prince Archie’s, skin colour.
Then the late monarch said famously that while the issues around race were concerning, ‘recollections may vary’ and vowed to deal with the matter privately.
It has been reported that the King and his daughter-law subsequently exchanged letters about the matter in which he is said to have expressed his sadness that she felt that way but took great pains to explain that there would have been no ‘ill will or casual prejudice’ intended on behalf of those involved.
It is said that he wanted to clear up something he felt strongly about.
An indomitable King Charles III today brushed off the row over Endgame just before Omid Scobie appears on British TV today as Meghan and Harry were urged to sue their favoured royal reporter over the Dutch version of Endgame naming two royals as racists.
Royal experts and insiders have said there is anger at the heart of the British Royal Family over the scandal, heightened after Piers Morgan revealed the names on live TV last night.
The King has landed in Dubai where he will give a keynote speech at the COP28 climate change conference. When asked by Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu how he was, the monarch replied: ‘I’m all right very much, just about’.
He added: ‘Having had a rather ancient birthday recently recovering from the shock of that’ – a nod to turning 75 earlier this month.
Mr Scobie – nicknamed Meghan and Harry’s mouthpiece’ by critics – will hold his first British TV interview on ITV’s This Morning today. Some royal fans have urged people to boycott the show when he is on it.
The Royal Family is understood to be ‘considering all options’, including legal action. Pictured: Harry and Meghan at the Invictus Games in September. They are also being urged to sue
Charles, 75, kicked off his 48-hour trip – in which he will give an opening address as COP28 environmental summit – with a 30 minute bilateral with Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The pair met at a hotel in Dubai ahead of the conference to discuss energy, environment, the Commonwealth and likely the situation in Gaza and Israel.
The hunt for who leaked letters naming the royals to Omid Scobie is underway, but a senior Palace source said last night that it is ‘vanishingly unlikely’ that the ‘nasty and deliberate attack’ came from inside the royal household.
Legal experts have suggested that privacy-conscious Meghan and Harry should seek an injunction to seek to ban the reprinting of the names that appear in the Dutch translation pulled from the shelves 48 hours ago. It would also prove if the Sussexes were serious about building bridges with Harry’s family – having vowed not to reveal the names themselves.
Royal expert Phil Dampier believes that the scandal in Holland has caused more turmoil for the royals.
He told MailOnline: ‘They will be scratching their heads at Buckingham Palace and wondering what the best thing to do about this.
‘The fact these names have been out on the internet in this global world we live in, you can find out the names is farcical and therefore I can understand why Piers has done this. But whether it was a wise thing to do only time will tell’.
He added: ‘I don’t believe for one moment that either of the two people have been named are racists’.
Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘What Omid Scobie is doing is proving that he is the ultimate figure when it comes to seeking sensation, I’m afraid. In his book Scobie makes clear he thinks the monarchy is in decline, possibly terminal decline. He has taken a chance in weird circumstances to embarrass it’.
Mr Scobie said that he had not named the royals in his book for legal reasons – only to pop up in the Dutch version, which he called an ‘error’.
A senior Palace source told The Sun: ‘That letter is under lock and key and no one from within the King’s circle would’ve briefed anyone about its contents.
‘In all likelihood, it must have been the Sussex camp which leaked the names. It’s a nasty and deliberate attack.’
On his TalkTV show last night, Piers Morgan named the two senior royals who Omid Scobie claims were the ones ‘with concerns’ over Prince Archie’s skin colour
Prince Archie is pictured with his parents at his christening in this official photograph taken in July 2019
One of Britain’s leading media lawyers, Mark Stephens, has urged the Sussexes to sue Omid Scobie for a privacy breach.
‘He’s let the cat out of the bag and they can also get the injunction against the world—and it could be the great rapprochement’, he said.
Mr Stephens told Newsweek: ‘You’re mainly looking to prevent him or anyone else from repeating information that should have never seen the light of day’.
‘The way that Harry and Meghan demonstrate that they didn’t want to see this in the public domain is by getting an injunction against the person who’s breached their confidence.
‘The moral imperative is that they must—given their widely known concerns about privacy and seeing another member of the family suffer as well as themselves suffer from an invasion of privacy—they would want to do everything they could to prevent it going further.’
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