King Charles Breaks Silence Amid New Royal Family Drama

King Charles III

After the new book centered on the English royal family—Endgame: Inside The Royal Family And The Monarchy's Fight For Survival by Omid Scobie—was released and a printing mistake in certain versions took over headlines, King Charles III shared his first comments in the aftermath.

The monarch was in Dubai on Thursday, Nov. 30, in order to give the opening address at the COP28 climate summit. While meeting with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Charles was asked how he was and replied, "I’m all right very much, just about. Having had a rather ancient birthday recently recovering from the shock of that!" as Daily Mail royal correspondent Rebecca English reported on X.

The Dubai visit came not long after the celebration of the King's 75th birthday on Nov. 14, which he referenced in his comments. While in Dubai on Nov. 30, Charles had other engagements as well, including helping to launch the inaugural COP28 Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum, as reported by People.

Endgame, the book at the center of the recent scandal, features a reference to an alleged conversation between members of the royal family regarding Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's son Archie's skin color before his birth, which Markle first spoke about publicly in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Shortly after the interview came out, Oprah appeared on CBS This Morning and clarified that Harry told her "it was not his grandmother, nor his grandfather that were part of those conversations," although neither Meghan nor Harry shared who it allegedly was.

While the version of Endgame released in the U.K., U.S., and other countries doesn't include the specific people's names, the initial Dutch translation reportedly did.

The book has since been pulled from shelves in the Netherlands, with the publishers telling People in a statement, "The rectified edition of Eindstrijd by Omid Scobie will be in bookstores on Friday 8 December. Xander Uitgevers temporarily removed the book from sale, due to an error that occurred in the Dutch edition."

Scobie also commented on the situation, telling the publication: "Having only written and edited the English version of Endgame, I can only comment on that manuscript — which does not name the two individuals who took part in the conversation."

"I’m happy to hear that the error in the translation of the Dutch edition is being fixed," he concluded.

Endgame was first released on Nov. 28. Scobie, the author of the new book, previously wrote Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family with Carolyn Durand, which came out in 2020.

Next: Piers Morgan Faces Backlash For Sharing Royal Names Mentioned in Revoked Endgame Book