The author repeatedly denied he had ever mentioned the two royals and refused to apologise.
But in a column for the i, published today, Scobie admitted that an “early and uncleared text” was given to the publisher in the Netherlands. The Dutch edition was not the final version he had submitted, he added.
He wrote: “Unbeknownst to me at the time, early and uncleared text was provided to the Dutch publisher in order for them to start work on the translation, with the understanding that their translation would be updated to reflect the final version of the book I officially submitted.”
He added: “To be clear, the only publisher I worked directly with was the one covering the US and UK.
“I spent almost two months with independent British barristers and in-house legal counsel to ensure that every detail in the finished book was legally watertight.”
But now Dutch publisher Xander Uitgevers has hit out at Scobie’s claims. In a response shared by Rick Evers, the journalist who originally spotted the “error”, Xander Uitgevers has rejected Scobie’s explanation of events.
The publisher said: “Omid Scobie’s explanation in his column in iNews about the Dutch editorial process of the Dutch edition of Endgame is factually incorrect and we do not recognize ourselves in his representation of the events.”
It added that it “is not allowed to say anything about the content”.
