Clarence House has called claims that the Prince of Wales was the royal who speculated on the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s future children as “fiction”.

A book by American author, Christopher Andersen, has alleged that it was Prince Charles who made the comment relating to the colour of Archie’s skin. Harry and Meghan announced this claim in an Oprah interview that aired earlier this year.

However, Clarence House has dismissed it as “fiction”.

Andersen alleges in his book that Charles made the comment on the day Harry and Meghan’s engagement was announced in November 2017.

In the book entitled ‘Brothers And Wives: Inside The Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan’, he writes the prince said to the Duchess of Cornwall, “I wonder what the children will look like?”, the New York Post’s Page Six website reported.

When Camilla replied “Well, absolutely gorgeous, I’m certain,” the book claims Charles went on to say: “I mean, what do you think their children’s complexion might be?”

A Clarence House spokesman said: “This is fiction and not worth further comment”.

Harry and Meghan accused a member of the royal family of racist comments in their Oprah interview earlier this year. They confirmed the comment was not from the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh.

Oxford Mail: Harry and Meghan during their Oprah Winfrey interview (Harpo Productions /Joe Pugliese)Harry and Meghan during their Oprah Winfrey interview (Harpo Productions /Joe Pugliese)

Meghan said, when she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.

Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, the duchess said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”

Harry refused to give further details, adding: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”