Omid Scobie has refused to apologise to the Royal Family after the King and Princess of Wales were named in his new book as the senior royals alleged to have questioned the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan’s son before he was born.
The royal biographer has been at the centre of a media storm after copies of Endgame were temporarily pulled from shelves in the Netherlands over what the publisher, Xander Uitgevers, called an “error”.
When asked on Thursday if he wanted to apologise to the Royal Family, the 42-year-old said: “It is not for me to apologise, as I still want to know what has happened.
“[The buck] does not stop with me, there are irresponsible people in this country that have broken the law and repeated names that should never have been broken.”
“On my and my family’s life,” he said, when quizzed by Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire.
He added: “It is serious, I feel hurt by some of the conspiracy theories that this is a publicity stunt and that I am in cahoots with my ‘pal’ – all of this is frustrating.”
Image: The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive for the Royal Variety Performance on Thursday
The writer said he has received 20 death threats in the past week due to the scandal.
“Having done this job full-time for six years, I am used to it,” he said. “The skin is thick, but it is sad that has become the norm.”
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The unsubstantiated allegation against the Royal Family was first made by the Duchess of Sussex in her March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey in which she said a senior member raised “concerns” about her son Archie’s skin colour before he was born.
Mr Scobie’s book claims that, in the aftermath of the Oprah interview, Meghan wrote a letter to the King expressing concern about unconscious bias in the Royal Family.
In the UK version of Endgame, Mr Scobie wrote that in her letter to the King, Meghan revealed “two identities” of those “involved in the exchange”.
Image: King Charles at COP28 on Friday. Pic: AP
“Laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were,” he wrote in the book.
There has been no evidence that has been published since to suggest the allegations are true.
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1:23
Archie ‘skin colour’ row is ‘nonsense’
Sky News presenter and anti-racism campaigner Sir Trevor Phillips called the story “nonsense”, adding that there is not a family of colour in the “entire world” who has not had a similar conversation.
“I have a grandson who is absolutely gorgeous and of course, we as a family talked about if he was going to look more like his mother, who looks like me, or his father who is of Puerto Rican heritage,” the broadcaster told Sky News Breakfast on Friday.
“In the same way that your family would talk about hair colour or eye colour. We all have the same hair, the thing that is different about us is skin colour. It is a mark of excitement.”
Speculating about how and if the conversation actually took place within the Royal Family, Sir Trevor said: “What I expect someone might have been saying is ‘I really hope this baby looks more like her than him’.”
On Thursday, Mr Scobie reiterated that an investigation has been launched into how the names were included in the translated version of his book and that he “looks forward to finding out more about it”.
Sir Keir Starmer has urged anyone with information on the Jeffrey Epstein case to come forward after Andrew Mountbatten Windsor missed the deadline to appear in front of US Congress.
US legislators have criticised Andrew for what they describe as “silence” amid their probe into Epstein after he failed to respond to their request for an interview.
When asked about Andrew missing the deadline and whether the former princeshould help the case in any way he can, Sir Keir said on his way to the G20 summit in South Africa: “I don’t comment on this particular case.”
He added that “a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it”.
Andrew is not legally obliged to talk to Congress and has always vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
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Image: Sir Keir Starmer spoke to reporters on his way to the G20 in South Africa. Pic: Reuters
It comes as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a loyal supporter-turned-critic of US President Donald Trump, said on Friday she is resigning from Congress in January.
Ms Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Mr Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticised him for his stance on files related to Epstein, as well as on foreign policy and healthcare.
Members of the House Oversight Committee had requested a “transcribed interview” with Andrew in connection with his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein, the paedophile financier who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
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2:35
Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
But after saying they had not heard back, Democrats Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam accused Andrew of hiding.
Their statement read: “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s silence in the face of the Oversight Democrat’s demand for testimony speaks volumes.
“The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.
“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors.”
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13:31
The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
It follows Andrew being stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month.
He had previously agreed to stop using his titles, but had expected to remain a prince and retain his dukedom, ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager – an accusation he denies.
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman in Swindon.
Police said the teenager was detained following an incident in Baydon Close, Moredon, in the Wiltshire town on Friday evening.
Officers responded to reports of disorder inside a house. When they arrived, a woman in her 50s living at the address was found to be not breathing. She was declared dead at the scene.
There were no other reported injuries.
Image: Forensic officers are at the scene to collect evidence
Detective Inspector Darren Ambrose, from Wiltshire Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This is a serious incident in which a woman has sadly died.
“We have set up a cordon at the address while an investigation is carried out.
“I can confirm that we have arrested a teenage girl in connection with this incident and we are not looking for anyone else.”
Police have asked people not to speculate about the incident online as this could prejudice the case.
A police statement read: “Residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we continue carrying out our enquiries into the woman’s death.
Rail fares are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years, the government has announced.
Ministers promised that millions of rail travellers will save hundreds of pounds on regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns between major cities.
The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.
People commuting to work three days a week using flexi-season tickets will save £315 a year travelling from Milton Keynes to London, £173 travelling from Woking to London and £57 from Bradford to Leeds, the government said.
The changes are part of Labour’s plans to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railways. Other planned changes include tap in-tap out and digital ticketing, as well as investing in superfast Wi-Fi.
Image: The freeze applies to regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns. Pic: iStock
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was introducing a freeze on rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which “will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier”.
“We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
“Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.”
Rail unions and passenger groups welcomed the move, praising how it will make travel more affordable for passengers and promote more sustainable travel alternatives.
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “More affordable fares will encourage greater use of public transport, supporting jobs, giving a shot in the arm to local economies and helping to improve the environment.”
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the rail fare freeze “will be a huge relief to working people”.
“This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make that journey they need to take, and to help grow our railway in this country, because the railway is Britain’s green alternative – taking cars and lorries off our congested roads and moving people and goods safely around our country in an environmentally-friendly way,” Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said.
The Tories welcomed the move but said the government was “late to the platform”.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: “In government, the Conservatives kept fares on the right track with below-inflation rises and consistently called for no further hikes to protect hard-working commuters.”