Meghan Markle and Prince Harry first made allegations of royal racism during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey back in 2019 - and it shocked the world. The Duchess claimed that there had been "concerns" within the Royal Family about how dark Archie's skin colour might be while she was pregnant with her first child.
After the explosive allegations were made on Oprah's show, Harry then denied that the couple ever referred to his family as "racist" - instead highlighting that in their eyes, it was a matter of "unconscious bias".
Ever since, the Sussexes have refused to name who was involved in the conversations about Archie. But now Omid Scobie's new book Endgame has alleged that the "concerns" were raised by two people in the royal family, not one as was initially assumed.
The English-language version of the book does not name those in question. However, a Dutch version appears to name two people who are said to have made the comments
The Dutch publisher told the Mirror: "Xander Uitgevers is temporarily withdrawing the book Eindstrijd by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified." Meanwhile, the book's author, Scobie, has denied responsibility for the translation error.
When the Sussexes made their explosive allegations on Oprah, in an interview broadcast around the world, they set in train a public debate about who in the royal family might harbour such racially charged views. In a multicultural modern Britain such allegations against the monarchy generated debate on a matter of such public importance with Scobie's new book claiming to add to that public debate.
As the mystery surrounding the translation rumbles on, we take a look at all the racism claims made by Harry and Meghan - in their own words.
Meghan's bombshell Oprah claims
In her sit-down interview with Oprah, Meghan revealed that Harry had told her that "concerns and conversations" were raised over how dark her son's skin might be.
The TV host asked Meghan if there was worry Archie's skin would be "too brown", to which Meghan responded: "If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one". The Duchess didn't say who made the remarks, saying that she believed it "would be very damaging to them" to do so.
"That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him, and I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations," Meghan added.
When the interview turned to claims that the Firm did not want to make Archie a prince at the time he was born, Oprah asked Meghan: "Why do you think that is? Do you think it's because of his race?"
Eventually Meghan replied: "I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time . . . so we have in tandem the conversation of 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."
After Oprah exclaimed: "What?", Meghan continued saying there had been a conversation with Harry about how dark Archie would be and "what that would mean or look like".
Harry also noted that initially, he hadn't dwelled on the "mixed race piece" before he did his own learning on the topic of his own unconscious biases, adding: "I wasn't aware of it to start with. But, my god, it doesn't take very long to suddenly become aware of it."
He added regarding the conversations over Archie's skin colour: "That conversation I'm never going to share, but at the time . . . at the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked". He reiterated during the sit-down interview that he was uncomfortable sharing what question had actually been asked by the member of the family in question.
The couple also discussed how Meghan's race had come into the intensive amount of press attention after she married into the Royal Family, and how the couple had felt when politicians across the political spectrum had called it out in a letter, but the royals had remained silent.
Harry's U-turn
Nearly two years later, Harry addressed the issue in another interview, this time with ITV's Tom Bradby to promote the release of his tell-all memoir Spare. In this sit-down, he argued that there is a difference between racism and unconscious bias and denied that he or his wife had accused the Royal Family of being racist.
"The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention 'they're racists?'" Harry said, before Bradby pushed back and replied: "She said there were troubling comments about Archie's skin colour. Wouldn't you describe that as essentially racist?"
Harry answered that given his experience of growing up in that family he wouldn't consider it racist, instead arguing that there was a distinction between the two things, "Once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that... otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."
Meghan Markle's letters to King Charles after Oprah
One of the most shocking claims in the book is that Meghan accused two members of the Royal Family of discussing their "concerns" over the colour of her son Prince Archie's skin.
Scobie claims Meghan named two members of the Firm in private letters she wrote to King Charles in the spring of 2021, after she and Harry spoke to Oprah. The King is said to have wanted his return letters to express how he felt no "casual prejudice" had been involved.
The names of those involved are not revealed in the book. The author Mr Scobie claims that he knows the names but "laws in the United Kingdom prevent me from reporting who they were." However, a furore has broken out after the names apparently appeared in the Dutch version. Last night, Piers Morgan repeated the names on Talk TV. The Mirror has chosen not to reveal the names.
Omid Scobie's latest book Endgame is packed with new insights and allegations from the author and long-time associate of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The hardback is reduced to £11 on Amazon but Mirror readers can listen to the audio version without paying a penny using a free Audible trial.