In a recent interview with This Morning host Craig Doyle, royal novelist Omid Scobie discusses his controversial book Endgame.
Craig was joined on the couch in the ITV studio by his co-host Alison Hammond, who grilled the author on his new book, claims regarding the Dutch version, and his own personal views on the royal institution.
During the interview, Omid denied being a ‘mouthpiece’ for Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and stressed that he is not a friend of the former senior royals.
The discussion naturally went to the controversy caused by the release of Endgame in the Netherlands.
The translation allegedly listed two members of the royal family who were claimed to have speculated about the complexion tone of Meghan and Harry’s son, Archie, before he was born.
Omid earlier stated that the Dutch edition may have included ‘translation mistakes,’ claiming that he did not include the names in any version that he published.
On Thursday’s This Morning, Craig, 52, brought up the translation that was sold in the Netherlands and has since been pulled from the shelves, stating: ‘You don’t accidentally put in a name, and you can’t put it down to a mistranslation, can you?
‘It does feel like a stunt to sell books.’
‘I wish it was the case,’ the author answered, as Craig asked: ‘How did it happen?’
‘It’s still being investigated right now. I wrote and edited the English version of the book with one publisher. That then gets licensed to other publishers. I obviously can’t speak Italian, German, French, Dutch, or any of the other languages that come out, so the only time you hear about the book is once it comes out in the public domain.’
Omid said that he was ‘as frustrated as everyone else’ over the controversy that has transpired.
‘I make it very clear in this book that I in every way possible want to adhere to the laws surrounding this subject. It’s why I’ve been very careful in how it’s described in the book, and it’s why I’ve never spoken about it beyond what I’ve said in the public domain before.’
The author expressed his’relief’ that the Dutch edition of the book had been withdrawn and is now being reissued, while emphasising that he can only talk about the English version.
‘I had never submitted a book that had their names in it,’ he vowed. He added that he didn’t necessarily feel ‘upset’, because he’s been ‘operating in a bubble of no emotion for the last 10 days’.
Craig then chimed again to add: ‘But you’re a journalist, and you know the effect a book like this has, so surely you can’t be surprised by the reaction.’
Many users on X (previously Twitter) have expressed their opinions about the This Morning interview.
While some applauded Craig for his strong approach to interrogating Scobie, others chastised him for being a “jerk” to their guest.
‘After this interview with Omid, you should keep him as a permanent presenter. He can be silly and light, like others, but he can switch and be a great serious interviewer,’ one person tweeted about Craig, while another wrote: ‘Why is Craig Doyle being such a jerk to Omid Scobie… Really disgusting to watch.’
Several viewers also criticised Craig and Alison, 48, for admitting that they hadn’t read the book Endgame in full, with Alison saying that she hadn’t read it, and Craig saying that he had read ‘an awful lot of it’, ‘through the pages of the book, some of the reviews’.
One remarked: ‘They knew he was going to be on as a guest today neither of them bothered themselves to read his book? Craig doing the interview purely based on selective reviews from the press? Not the best look really whatever you think of him.’
There were also some who commended Omid on the way he carried himself through the interview, with one comment reading: ‘Omid Scobie is holding his own. We do need reasoned conversations around race issues etc.’
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
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