Dignity in the face of Scobie's poison pen: William and Kate receive a standing ovation as they arrive at Royal Variety Show - while the royals' tormentor-in-chief shamelessly continues to twist the knife

Royal experts and politicians have rallied round Kate Middleton as she and Prince William were greeted by raucous applause at the Royal Variety Performance. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales, who were joined by Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, got a standing ovation as they headed into the Royal Albert Hall.

Showing no signs of anguish following the release of Omid Scobie's book Endgame, the couple looked delighted to greet the crowd.

It comes after the book's Dutch translation appeared to include the names of two royals alleged to have expressed 'concerns' about the colour of Prince Archie's skin.

Scobie continues to deny that the names were added to the Dutch version of the book on purpose as a publicity stunt. 

Security minister Tom Tugendhat and royal photographer Arthur Edwards are among those to have defended the two royals at the centre of the allegations.

TalkTV host Jeremy Vine told Mr Tugendhat: 'King Charles and the Princess of Wales were named by Piers Morgan last night. Online, this is everywhere.'

Mr Tugendhat replied: 'Some individual has written some rumour and scuttlebutt that has made various claims about His Majesty the King that are, frankly, completely unproven.

'The King's done a brilliant job for us, not just in the last year since he's been King, but he's been absolutely fantastic for many, many years in arguing in the interests of the British people as Prince of Wales.

'So frankly I see this as just rumour, hearsay and an attempt to disparage somebody who's served our country with enormous dignity and enormous grace for many, many years.'

Mr Edwards was also asked about the row this week and praised Kate, saying she 'really does a great job'.

He told TalkTV: 'She's got three children she wants to spend time with but at the same time she gives an awful lot of her time to the royal family.

'Alright, she turns up in nice outfits and she looks great, and she is a photographer's dream I have to say, when I see some of the things she does, when she gets involved in sports, she plays sports like she's a sportsman all her life, she just gives everything to it and she's absolutely a joy to photograph.'

Speaking about Charles, he added: 'When he came back from Scotland after the Queen died, he arrived at Northolt and I was there. He got off the plane and I said, 'I'm so sorry about what's happened to your mum,' and he said, 'Well it was inevitable it would happen one day'. 

'Since then, the book claims he muddled through the first 100 days. I covered those first 100 days. The crowds were huge, he was inspiring, I don't know how he did it. I was told during the day he put on this great show because obviously he was grieving inside for his mother and he did a brilliant job.'

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Harry and Meghan alleged an unidentified member of the monarchy – but not Queen Elizabeth II or her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh – had raised 'concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born'.

Mr Scobie states in his book that two people, not one as Meghan said, made the comment about Archie, widely interpreted as a racist remark.

Mr Scobie has been accused of being behind a 'stunt to sell books' during a television interview where he claimed never to have named the two race row royals in his expose.

This Morning co-host Craig Doyle quizzed the journalist about his Royal Family book, saying it seemed 'bizarre' to the public that two members of the monarchy, accused of racism by commentators, had been identified in the Dutch version of his book.

Mr Scobie said he wrote the English language version of his book but does not speak the other languages it was translated into, 'so the only time you hear about the book is once it's come out in the public domain. I'm as frustrated as everyone else'.

He claimed: 'The reality, though, is that this is information that is not privy just to me, journalists across Fleet Street have known those names for a long time.

'I have never submitted a book that had their names in it, so I can only talk about my version.'

Amid the controversy, Kate last night maintained a 'business as usual' attitude as she attended the annual event in South Kensington with William and their guests, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Prince Daniel.

The pair identified in the book were named widely by media organisations around the world last night, including the Guardian and the Times, as King Charles and Kate. 

However, the Princess brushed off the mentions as she arrived at the Royal Variety Performance 2023 in the show-stopping gown which featured flared sleeves and statement shoulders, plus a gem-encrusted high-neck.

She donned a chunky gem bracelet with matching earrings, carried a sparkling clutch bag and wore her thick brunette locks in bouncy curls. 

Meanwhile Prince William looked sharp in a black tuxedo, and he acted as the perfect gentleman as he held out his hand for his wife as they took to the red carpet. 

On arrival they met ITV executives before being introduced to Daphne Selfe, who at 95 is the world's oldest supermodel.

Excited crowds gathered outside the hall to peer through the windows for the royal arrival.

Speaking to Ms Selfe, Prince William said: 'You're modelling at 95, that is incredible,' before adding: 'They don't make you travel about too much do they?'

The Princess of Wales told Ms Selfe that she 'loved' her dress, which had red feather tassel sleeves, to which she replied that Kate was very tall.

The Princess then joked: 'I'm quite tall and I have high heels on, so I'm cheating.'

Prince William added: 'I don't have high heels on.'

The Princess of Wales and the Princess of Sweden were then presented with floral bouquets made from English & Swedish national flowers.

Before the performance started Prince and Princess of Wales were welcomed in the royal box with a rendition of 'God Save the Queen' performed by West End star Samantha Barks, who plays Elsa in the musical Frozen.

The event is in aid of the Royal Variety Charity, which supports members of the entertainment industry with a nationwide grants scheme, to help those who've worked professionally in the entertainment industry during this very difficult economic climate. 

Bradley Walsh, who hosted the show, said it was 'an honour' to serve the monarchy and present the Royal Variety Performance - but joked that he would be grateful for a CBE.

There was also a brief appearance from Simon Cowell, who came on stage wearing Bono-esque yellow-tinted glasses for his 'terrible eyesight' to introduce Britain's Got Talent winner Viggo Venn (CORR).

The Prince and Princess of Wales appeared to particularly enjoy a sketch from West End magician Simon Lipkin, where Bradley Walsh played the role of a servant.

Pointing at Their Highnesses Mr Walsh said: 'If I don't get a knighthood after this there's no justice,' causing the Prince and Princess to laugh together.

After the show Their Highnesses met performers including Cher, who had performed her new Christmas single, DJ Play a Christmas Song.

Prince William said: 'It's an energetic song isn't it!'

They then spoke to performers including McFly, Mel C and Paloma Faith.

Faith, who was still barefoot from her performance, said the Prince and Princess of Wales were 'really nice and very relaxed'.

She added: 'They said they didn't mind that I wasn't wearing shoes as I seemed more comfortable that way.

'They just put you at ease, which is a real skill.'

The British royals will no doubt be hoping an evening of entertainment at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring performances from Rick Astley, Zara Larsson and music icon Cher, will distract from an awkward week in which a 2021 controversy has been rehashed in Scobie's book. 

Allegations first surfaced that a member of the royal family had 'concerns' about the colour of Prince Archie's skin in 2021 during Harry & Meghan's sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Meghan, at the time pregnant with Princess Lilibet, told the veteran broadcaster there had been 'concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be'.

She added the conversations had taken place between Prince Harry and members of his family, but refused to name the person or people in question because she believed 'it would be very damaging to them'.

Harry later added in the same interview: 'That conversation... I'm never going to share.'

In another sit-down interview with ITV's Tom Bradby earlier this year as he promoted his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex claimed he and Meghan had never said his family was 'racist' in reference to these alleged conversations. 

Instead, he said his family members had shown 'unconscious bias'. 

As the fallout continues from the book, Omid Scobie appeared on ITV's This Morning today where he claimed he was 'as frustrated as everyone else' over the controversy surrounding the Dutch translation of the book. 

He told presenters he did not include the names of the two royals accused of discussing the skin colour of Harry and Meghan's son Archie when he submitted the completed manuscript to his publisher.

However, Saskia Peeters, who translated the book from English to Dutch, told MailOnline today: '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.'

When told the book's author Scobie had denied he put the names in the manuscript Mrs Peters said: 'I don't know why he would say that. 

'I have been translating for many years. This is the first time anything like this has happened.

'This is not something I wanted to be involved in. This has been upsetting. I do not want to talk about it much more.'