Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh will have been left feeling “upset” after Omid Scobie’s ferocious insult.
A royal commentator has claimed that Sophie, 58, will have reacted negatively to being called “casually bigoted” by Mr Scobie in his controversial new book Endgame.
Mr Scobie’s comments came in response to an interview the Duchess gave to the Telegraph in 2021 after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix special featuring Oprah Winfrey.
The Duchess said: “If you’re not into chat shows there’s no reason why you should know who she (Oprah Winfrey) is. Certainly not in this country, anyway.”
Mr Scobie responded by calling Sophie “tin-eared” over her comments about Ms Winfrey which came days after Endgame was released on Tuesday.
Speaking about the Duchess, Mr Scobie said: “Whether it was a ‘joke’ (as a source close to the couple later claimed it was) or not, the comments about the world’s most successful Black woman and one of the biggest faces in entertainment made them seem stuffy or tin-eared at best, and casually bigoted at worst.”
Talking to GB News about the comments, royal expert Gareth Russell said he believed that the book was a deliberate attempt to put distance between the Sussexes and the other royals.
He explained: “I think the book is an exercise in bridge-burning. Intentionally or, as looks tentatively likely, unintentionally, the Sussexes look like they’ve set fire to nearly every relationship within the Royal Family.
“Sweeping judgements, like describing the Duchess of Edinburgh as ‘casually bigoted,’ is a new tactic and I would imagine quite upsetting for Sophie. But while it’s early days yet, the book does not seem to have been created by a tidal wave of credulity.”
Mr Russell added that he believed that many people “feel sceptical that Omid Scobie could have written a book with so many details without having recited some of them via the Sussexes”.
The release of Mr Scobie’s latest book comes nearly a year after Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, which made a litany of allegations against several senior royals.
The latest claims, byMr Scobie, that two senior members of the Royal Family discussed Prince Archie’s skin colour, have created the most debate.
Following the debacle, both Mr Scobie and his Dutch publishers have blamed the error on a mistranslation and insisted that at no point did Mr Scobie send out any manuscripts identifying the individuals.
While there is speculation over the names of the royals, there has also been debate over whether to publish the names in question. Journalist Piers Morgan publicly revealed the two names on his TalkTV show on Wednesday evening.
Defending his decision on social media, Mr Morgan said: “I’m outraged too – that the rest of the British media hasn’t done the same! Why should British people be barred from knowing what Dutch people know about OUR Royal Family?”
As debate intensifies both about the claims and whether or not to publish the names, a royal source told the Mail that Palace was considering what to do next.
They said: “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 of the planet and bilaterals with other world leaders including those impacted by the situation in the Middle East.”
The Daily Express has taken the decision not to name them. Writing on Express.co.uk Leo McKinstry explained: “The Daily Express is firmly of the belief that is wrong and they should not be named – especially as they have no effective way of defending themselves.
“The Royal Family will no doubt be once again forced to adopt its defensive stance of ‘never complain, never explain’. We believe this is a rank injustice and naming them only helps to propagate a disgraceful smear which is clearly designed to damage the monarchy.”
