The Royal Family has embarked on a ‘charm offensive’ as they brush off the fallout from Omid Scobie’s racism row – with William taking to the streets to sell the Big Issue, Kate visiting a children’s hospital and King Charles preparing to host a Buckingham Palace banquet.
The Prince of Wales left shoppers stunned this morning after he was spotted selling the magazine outside a Tesco in Hammersmith, West London. The beaming royal, 41, appeared relaxed as he chatted to vendor Dave Martin, 61, who has been a friend since they hit the streets to sell the magazine together 18 months ago.
Kate was also out and about today, receiving a warm welcome as she opened a new Children’s Day Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London before reuniting with fundraising amputee Tony Hudgell and his adopted mother.
Ignoring the rumblings of any royal drama, Kate, 41, in a fitted navy suit by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen and towering navy heels, enjoyed an emotional moment with nine-year-old Tony, who lost his legs after being abused by his birth parents.
Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales will join forces this evening with Charles as they host more than 500 guests at the annual pre-Christmas Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace.
A beaming Princess of Wales received a warm welcome today as she opened a new Children’s Day Surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London
Beaming William, 41, appeared relaxed as he joined vendor Dave Martin, 61, who has been a friend of the royal since they hit the streets selling Big Issue copies together 18 months ago
Charles, planting a tree today before attending an Advent Service and Christmas Reception at The Coptic Orthodox Church Centre in Stevenage. He will host a reception at Buckingham Palace this evening
Harry who? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at a mental health event earlier this year
The event will mark the first time the senior royals will meet publicly since being named as the royals who allegedly expressed ‘concerns’ over the colour of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s son Archie’s skin.
Omid Scobie, whose work often focuses on the The Sussexes, set a media storm in motion last week after their names appeared in the Dutch translation of his new book Endgame.
Omid has since denied submitting an official manuscript naming the royals and has offered no explanation as to how this version of the Endgame ended up on shelves in the Netherlands.
The event, spearheaded by the late Queen Elizabeth before her death, will also involve Prince William and Queen Camilla as guests, and will take place at the State Rooms in Buckingham Palace.
The King will welcome more than 500 members of the Diplomatic Corps as he supports the work of UK diplomacy both here and abroad.
It comes as Meghan Markle was seen for the first time since the controversy erupted last week, as she stepped out in workout gear in Santa Barbara.
And she even appeared to offer an olive branch to her father-in-law by wearing a bracelet gifted to her by the King, in her first public appearance since the royal racism row was reignited.
The Princess of Wales looked chic in a fitted blue ensemble and towering navy heels
In a sweet moment the Princess appeared to give a hug to the family member of a patient
Kate met with Tony Hudgell, nine, a young boy who lost his legs after being abused by his birth parents
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, stepped out in Montecito on Monday wearing an array of casual luxury including Princess Diana’s Cartier bracelet and watch, and a Bentley & Skinner diamond tennis bracelet – a gift from the King worth at least £4,900.
The piece, which was first worn on the eve of her wedding to Prince Harry, was first created by royal warrant holders Bentley & Skinner, features ninety-two round brilliant cut diamonds.
The bracelet, which was last seen publicly wearing in May during a hike in California, could be the Duchess’s subtle nod to her family, 5,000 miles away.
Her appearance comes as Scobie, who has been seen as the unofficial spokesman for the couple, is still struggling to deal with the fallout from his new book.
An initial draft of the book, given to Dutch translators, named the two senior members of the royal family – King Charles and The Princess of Wales- who Meghan said told of their ‘concerns’ about the colour of her son Archie’s skin, while she was pregnant.
Meghan first made her allegations about the conversation in her televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, in March 2021.
Prince William pictured with Big Issue vendor Dave Martin in 2022 when he first went out to do his bit to help the homeless by selling the magazine
The Prince wrote exclusively for the magazine to explain why he wanted to talk about the problem of homelessness around his milestone
Prince William, pictured on the cover of the magazine, posed for the special edition of The Big Issue to mark his 40th birthday, last year
Harry and Meghan issued a statement saying it was not the late Queen or her husband Prince Philip, but have refused to name the members of the royal family who made the comments.
Scobie’s book marks the first time they have been named.
And despite the author’s denials, his UK agent did send a draft manuscript of Endgame naming the two ‘royal racists’ to be translated into Dutch, it has been claimed.
The revelation exposes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ‘cheerleader-in-chief’s’ weasel words that he ‘never submitted a book that had those names in it’.
A source told The Times United Talent Agency had earlier sent a draft version of the book to publisher Xander Uitgevers which contained the names.
However, a final proof of the 400-page tome was later sent but it is understood the translator had been working from an earlier draft.
Buckingham Palace is mulling whether to take legal action after King Charles and the Princess of Wales were named as the senior royals who allegedly remarked about Archie’s skin colour before he was born.
Mr Scobie, 42, has refused to apologise to Charles and Kate for the embarrassing mishap which resulted in the explosive book being removed from the shelves in the Netherlands.
British journalist Omid Scobie, who’s work often focuses on the The Sussexes, set a media storm in motion last week after the King and Kate were named as the alleged perpetrators of apparently racial comments in the Dutch translation of his new book Endgame
Sisters at odds! Sisters-in-law Kate and Meghan are yet to make public statements regarding the media furore (Pictured: The Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex attend Christmas Day Church service at Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in 2018)
The under-fire author has shrugged off criticism claiming the names were ‘known for a long time’ while putting the blame at the Dutch publisher’s door declaring: ‘I never submitted a book that had those names in it.’
Yet Dutch translator Saskia Peeters insisted Charles and Kate’s names were in the book.
Speaking to from her home in Arnhem on Thursday, she said: ‘As a translator, I translate what is in front of me.
‘The names of the royals were there in black and white. I did not add them. I just did what I was paid to do and that was translate the book from English into Dutch.’
The second translator, Nellie Keukelaar-van Rijsbergern, then told The Sun: ‘We are professionals and we’ve done this for years, both of us. It’s unfair.’
Mr Scobie’s initially blamed a ‘translation error’. Anke Roelen, managing director of the publisher Xander, said a rectified edition of the book would be back on shelves on December 8 and simply blamed ‘an error’ for it being pulled.
Omid (pictured) has doubled down to defend Endgame and refused to take the blame for the racism scandal