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Relations between King Charles and Prince Harry have been described as "fractured beyond repair," according to recent reports. The alleged fallout stems from acussations against senior British royals for allegedly making comments about the skin color of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son, Archie.
As reported by The Sun, the BBC has joined other news outlets in divulging the names of the senior British royals implicated in the controversial remarks. This revelation further adds to the tension surrounding the incident and intensifies the scrutiny on the royal family.
Upon hearing the news, the Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun:
"Charles and Harry’s relationship was at an all-time low before but this may have fractured it beyond all repair. It could spell the end game for them.”
The claim was made in Dutch translations of author Omid Scobie’s book Endgame.
King Charles and Prince Harry's relationship "may have fractured beyond all repair" after Endgame debacle
Amid accusations of racism against King Charles and Kate Middleton, Prince Harry's relationship with his father is reportedly facing deeper fractures. The alleged remarks about Prince Archie's skin color have reportedly intensified the rift, with Prince Harry and Meghan yet to comment on the controversy. The allegations were initially triggered by Omid Scobie's book Endgame, where King Charles and Kate Middleton were named in a Dutch translation.
In his book, Mr. Scobie claimed to have discovered the existence of letters between Meghan Markle and King Charles following the Sussexes' Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021, revealing that the situation remained unresolved. During the Oprah conversation, Harry and Meghan disclosed that an unnamed member of the monarchy had expressed:
"Concerns and conversations about how dark his [Archie’s] skin might be when he’s born."
While Scobie and the publisher attribute it to a 'translation error,' Dutch translator Saskia Peeters insists the names were in the original manuscript. TalkTV Presenter Piers Morgan later revealed the names on his TalkTV show, prompting other news organizations, including the BBC, to follow suit.
The BBC had resisted naming Charles and Middleton, but changed its position on Friday during the broadcast of Today, its flagship Radio 4 news show. Presenter Nick Robinson said:
“To be clear I told listeners about an hour ago, the BBC was not naming them, we are now naming the King and the Princess of Wales as being at the center of those allegations.”
The Royals were attending the COP28 Summit in Dubai on November 20, 2023. During the meeting, Charles was very exhausted, and his doctor was by his side all the time. Despite having previously said their name would not be mentioned by media sources, the BBC named him and Kate, just 55 minutes before the address, at 7:36 am.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun:
“This was a speech he’s waited five decades to make but all everyone is talking about are these baseless claims of racism.”
A BBC insider reportedly told the Deadline that managers acknowledged that the “dam had broken” on the story and gave Robinson clearance to identify the royals at the heart of the race row. Sky News and ITV have also identified the duo, as well as US publications such as The New York Times.
King Charles and Kate were the first members of the royal family to face public questions about the scandal, when a member of the press shouted out to them when they arrived at the Royal Variety Performance on Thursday night. William was asked:
"Your royal highness, have you got a comment about Omid Scobie's book?"
The Royal expert Ingrid Seward told The Mirror:
"There is no doubt Prince William will be furious about the latest supposed slur against his wife. He will be angry at the media for giving the story such massive exposure. He will be angry with Harry and Meghan regardless of whether they were involved or not. He will be angry with himself for allowing Catherine's name to be involved as he is very protective of her."
UK security minister Tom Tugendhat told TalkTV on Thursday:
“Some individual has written some rumour and scuttlebutt that has made various claims about His Majesty the King Charles that are, frankly, completely unproven.”
Supporters rally as Duke and Duchess urged to break silence amid fallout from Endgame
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been reportedly urged to speak out in defence of the King and Princess of Wales, as leading public figures rallied to support them against accusations of racism.
Commenting on the alleged remarks, Sir Trevor, who was also formerly chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said:
“I think that there is no family of colour anywhere in the entire world where that conversation doesn’t take place... It’s a mark of excitement, I suspect.”
Mr Johnson, writing in his column for the Daily Mail, also argued the comments – as far as they have so far been reported – were “not remotely racist” but an:
“Entirely innocent and utterly normal antepartum meditation of a kind that takes place whenever a family is expecting a baby”.
Mark Stephens, a media lawyer, has called on the Sussexes to take legal action over the Endgame book, arguing if they are:
“Really interested in privacy, as they profess, it is pretty surprising that they haven’t sought an injunction to prevent this information being revealed further.”
He added:
“They’ve been awfully silent, they haven’t even condemned Omid Scobie and it’s also extremely unclear how a translator puts names into a transcript that were not there for translation.”
Buckingham Palace has not yet responded to the Endgame controversy, while sources close to Meghan have claimed she had nothing to do with the leak of the names.
