Security minister defends royals at centre of racism row

A government minister has spoken out in support of the two senior royals who were named in connection with the royal race row.

Tom Tugendhat praised the "dignity" and "grace" of the King and the Princess of Wales after Dutch copies of Omid Scobie's book "Endgame" suggested they were the two royals alleged to have asked about the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's unborn baby, Archie.

Appearing on TalkTV, Tugendhat, the security minister and former Tory leadership candidate, said that "some individual has written some rumour and scuttlebutt that has made various claims about His Majesty the King that are, frankly, completely unproven".

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Tugendhat added that he regarded the book as "just rumour, hearsay and an attempt to disparage somebody who's served our country" for "many many years", noted The Times.

Scobie has insisted he does not know how the Dutch translation of "Endgame" came to include the names. He told the BBC it was not a deliberate publicity stunt.

He said a "full investigation" was under way to discover how the names were included, adding the English version of the book, which he "wrote" and "edited", didn't include the names.

However, Saskia Peeters, a Dutch translator who worked on Scobie's book, said she had not inserted any names into the copy sold in the Netherlands and simply translated the words she was given. Speaking to Mail Online, she said that "as a translator, I translate what is in front of me," and "the names of the royals were there in black and white".

King Charles and the Princess of Wales were identified as the two royals earlier this week by Piers Morgan on his TalkTV show. Asked about reports that Buckingham Palace was considering legal action over Morgan naming them, a Palace spokesperson said "we're exploring all options".