Piers Morgan unrepentant after naming royals who 'asked about Prince Archie's skin colour'
Two royals reportedly named in Omid Scobie's new book as having asked about the colour of Prince Archie's skin before he was born have been identified on television by Piers Morgan.
A "translation error" in a Dutch version of Scobie's book Endgame has been blamed for the apparent naming of two royals who are said to have enquired about the skin colour of Harry and Meghan's first child.
The scandal caused the book to be pulled from shelves in the Netherlands on Tuesday, the day of its release.
Morgan has since sparked outrage by naming the royals at the centre of the row during his Talk TV show on Wednesday night. It is the first time they have been publicly named in the UK.
ITV News' Royal Editor Chris Ship was among many who criticised the move on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "The 2 royal names were never that hard to find & now @piersmorgan made it even easier by sharing them on his TV show.
"We should however remind ourselves what Harry himself said to @ITV about these remarks by his family: neither he nor Meghan ever said these comments were 'racist'".
Morgan was unapologetic as he responded to Ship, writing: "You should grow a pair and name them too.
"As for Harry’s pathetic U-turn and attempt to deflect blame onto the media, we should also remind ourselves that for two years the Sussexes let their unsubstantiated claims to Oprah be reported as meaning royals had been racist."
Meghan made the original allegation during her and Prince Harry's interview by Oprah in March 2020.
“In those months when I was pregnant [there were] concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born," Meghan said in the interview.
Harry added: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Mr Scobie references Meghan’s allegation in his book Endgame, but said libel laws prevent him from naming them.
The publisher of the Dutch version of the book has since blamed a “translation error” for the naming of the royal involved.
Mr Scobie 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.
“I wrote and edited the English version. There's never been no version that I've produced that has names in it.”
Endgame has caused ripples with his assertions about the royal family, which he says is "in a crisis" and in a "fight for survival".
The 42-year-old author said he did not interview the Duchess of Sussex for Endgame but shares mutual friends with her which helped with sourcing information.