What happened between Meghan, Charles and the other British royals? Was there racism?

Following the bombshell Oprah interview in March 2021, where Meghan stated that certain royals had expressed 'concerns' over the skin colour of her unborn son, Archie, Duchess Meghan sent a letter to the then-Prince Charles about the situation. She expressed her own concerns 'about unconscious bias' in the family.

The exchange between Meghan and Charles was recently disclosed by an exclusive Daily Telegraph report. Charles' reply to her letter about 'unconscious bias' in the royal family was apparently not satisfactory to Meghan, the paper states.

King Charles, believed to be the only senior royal to have made contact with Meghan after the Oprah interview, expressed his sadness over tension within the family. Overall, however, the report states the Duchess was unsatisfied with the response to her concerns. This was not confirmed by her spokesperson: they said that Meghan isn't "thinking about correspondence from two years ago."

"The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago," the spokesperson said. "Any suggestion otherwise is false and frankly ridiculous. We encourage tabloid media and various royal correspondents to stop the exhausting circus that they alone are creating."

The letters reportedly name the family member who made the remarks about Archie and also state that there was no 'malice intended.' Meghan and Charles are said to have been in agreement about this, as the Daily Telegraph reports.

Earlier this year, when promoting his book, 'Spare', Prince Harry had an interview with ITV's Tom Bradbury. In this interview, the Prince denied that Meghan accused the royal family of being 'racist' and instead said it was the British tabloids who reported the issue using the strong label. He asked rhetorically: "Did Meghan ever mention, 'they're racists'?"

Photo: ITV

Harry pointed at a "difference between racism and unconscious bias." He said that the label of 'unconscious bias' offers people the chance to learn about their own prejudices and grow before they turn into racism.

At the same time, however, the couple received the ‘Ripple of Hope’ award from the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organisation. They were awarded for their "heroic stand against structural racism in the royal family" and hope to inspire a "wave of change." So even if Meghan didn't use the R-word, others have no problem ascribing it to her.

In any case, how deep does the racism (or unconscious bias) go? Is it founded in any truth? Many have split opinions on the royal racism matter. While some call their actions ‘heroic,’ others blame Harry and Meghan for ‘destroying the royal family’ - as audiences shouted at the couple during their appearance at the gala.

Photo: Netflix

We take a look at the racism incidents the royals have been accused of. What were the reactions? How much of it is true? And how much of it is social media, with some of the public’s deep-rooted opinions on royal history - specifically that of colonialism - coming into play?

Of course, the most prominent moment of racial accusations has to be Meghan in her and Harry’s Oprah interview. Needless to say, the press made sure the world knew the morning after exactly what was said and the question on everyone’s lips was ‘who said it?’. The leak of Meghan's letters has sparked this discussion once more.

Meghan said directly in the bombshell interview that, whilst pregnant with her first child, there were ‘concerns and conversations’ over the color of Archie’s skin. An instant instant explosion from the world’s media reporting he racist remarks.

Of course, in its wake, many looked to the royal family for comment, or for someone to own up to making the remark. Instead, Harry and Meghan were branded ‘liars’ by much of the British public with the Queen’s response famously plastered across the front pages - ‘recollections may vary’.

Prince William was also hounded for a response to the racism accusation until he could not say ‘no comment’ any more. His response was simple, curt and concise: “we are not a racist family”. Case closed? We think not.

Tom Bower released a book entitled ‘Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors’ in July 2022. The former BBC journalist wrote that Camilla had potentially been one of the accused after a joke that went wrong.

Bower wrote that, in a meeting between the Sussexes and the then-Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla made a passing joke about Meghan’s first-born’s hair. According to Bower, she said ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if your child had ginger afro hair?’ Meghan had apparently shot down Harry’s impulsive giggle with a furious stare.

Of course, Bower is renowned for his unauthorised biographies and much can be discarded from his accounts. The fact that Camilla’s comment was reported without even citing a source makes it, for many journalists, rather improbable it ever happened. There was no comment from the palace.

Camilla has also been under fire more recently. A viral video of Camilla has been circulating the world. Her trip to Bow nursery was meant to be a generous outing: filled with joy and a focus on care for children. But it turned into a PR disaster for the new Queen Consort.

On November 24 2022, King Charles III’s wife made her way to the Bow nursery in aid of Bernardo's charity. She was there to hand out Paddington Bears to the little children, alongside actors from the film. It was a touching display, especially considering the link between Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and the stuffed bear. But it went wrong.

Camilla is videoed throughout the visit. One particular moment has come under scrutiny from many social media users - she was blamed for refusing to hold a little black girl’s hand and tugged at her sleeve instead.

After this uncomfortable moment, the Queen Consort is blamed for looking at her hands as though they needed cleaning. It did not go down well with a large number of viewers.

Of course, there are two sides to every story and those in favour of Camilla state that the video was cut to suit people’s agendas; or that she held the girl by the sleeve because she was looking at her bracelet. There was no response from the palace following the accusations.

Camilla’s most recent gala at Buckingham Palace in aid of raising awareness of domestic abuse turned into a royal PR nightmare. The guest list was rife with influential names, charity workers and campaigners. Another royal event which took a turn for the worst, scarred by racist accusations.

One guest to the event, Ngozi Fulani, from Sistah Space (a charity for African and Caribbean victims of domestic violence) spoke out about her visit to the palace. Many were shocked and appalled to hear her story.

On her Sistah Space Twitter, Fulani spoke out about her ‘mixed feelings’ on the visit after she was asked a number of times where she was from, despite being born in the UK. Despite Fulani not wishing the identity to be revealed, Lady SH (as she is names in the Twitter post) was quickly identified as Lady Susan Hussey, on of the palace’s close friends and trusted representatives (in the photo next to the late Queen Elizabeth).

The conversation was reported as follows: Lady SH: ‘Where are you from?'
'Me: 'Here, UK'. 'No, but what nationality are you?' Me: 'I am born here and am British.' 'No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?' Me: 'My people, lady, what is this?'
''Oh, I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from.’'

Lady Susan’s comments showed a complete lack of understanding and, to many, a deep-rooted racism within the royal family. The palace were one again under fire and it was just days before Harry and Meghan were to release their Netflix series with further accusations of racism.

When Harry and Meghan accused the family of racism in their Oprah interview, the palace made no comment. This time, however, the palace were keen to respond. According to Buzzfeed, the Buckingham Palace statement said, ‘In this instance, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made’.

Furthermore, following the controversial remarks and questions, William also spoke out. The future King of England said the ordeal was ‘really disappointing’. His spokesperson made a wider comment stating that “racism has no place in our society”. Lady Susan Hussey resigned from her royal post.

In 2017, another racial issue occurred, this time with Princess Michael of Kent. The wife of the grandson of King George V made a wardrobe blunder that very nearly escalated into another large racial accusation.

Princess Michael of Kent wore ‘racially insensitive jewellery’ at a Christmas palace lunch. Meghan Markle was in attendance. The item that caused such controversy was her brooch, a blackamoor-style piece that seems to depict the bust of an African person wearing a crown and jewels.

‘Blackamoor’ are artistic pieces that show African or non-European males as servants. To add to the offence, the term ‘black moor’ used to be a general term for black people in English, according to the Oxford Dictionary.

Princess Michael of Kent issued an apology via her spokesman saying, “The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence.” It seems it was a mistake, but the completely lack of awareness the Princess showed has left a bad taste in the mouth for many.

In fact, even comments from a long time ago have left a sour aftertaste for members of the British public. Many may remember the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to China in 1986. Prince Philip said to a British student, ‘If you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty eyed’. Wince.

In 2002, Philip made another racial blunder. In Australia, the Late Prince Philip asked an aboriginal entrepreneur, ‘Do you still throw spears at each other?’

Of course, moving into the twenty-first century has meant a modernising of the royal family. Yet, despite the family’s best efforts to improve ethnic minorities in their palaces, the numbers are not too good.

The ethic minority figures show that the percentage rose from 8.5% in 2021 to 9.6% in 2022. However, this isn’t the modern jump the royals expected and didn’t meet their 10% target. Once again, this brings complaints from the British public - accusing the royals of deep-rooted racism that many link back to colonialism.

The most recent attack on the royal family’s colonist past has been to William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales. The couple took a trip to the Caribbean in March 2022 and their conduct encouraged a few raised eyebrows.

Sky News reports that they were transported around in a ‘white Land Rover parade’ and likened their visit to a ‘throwback to colonialism’. Photos were taken of the pair shaking hands with children through wire fences and there were protests against the royals. It didn’t create the image they had imagined and, once again, was bad press for the royal family who were in desperate need of good coverage, particularly relating to race.

There was no direct comment from the palace on their trip, but Us Weekly cites a source close to the couple who said they felt ‘overwhelmed with remorse’. The source continues stating, “They obviously know the history, but being there during the protests was a real eye-opener.”

For many people, there does seem to be a lack of awareness from the Royal Family on topics related to race, but this could also seemingly work in their favour as, according to Harry himself in his new Netflix docuseries, they didn’t even think of Meghan’s race as an issue.

In the series, Harry says that he had asked for security for his fiancee, Meghan. The Prince states himself that the family felt no empathy for the young actress as they had ‘all’ been through it. Then they asked, what made her any different?

‘The difference here is the race element’, Harry responds. So, what is it? Are the Royals to be dubbed colorblind to race, rightly looking further than the color of one’s skin - or do they, as Harry says, have a "huge level of unconscious bias" which could be a damaging racist issue for the family. The ‘dirty game’ of the Windsors continues.