The case of “unacceptable” racism that shakes the British royal house

A leading member of Britain’s royal entourage resigned on Wednesday after making “unacceptable comments” about the origins of a black activist during a reception at the Buckingham Palaceplunging the royal house into a new case of racism.

Although the institution has been singled out several times in recent years for reasons of diversity or racismthis is the first episode that shakes the monarchy since the accession to the throne in September Charles III74 years old, after the death of his mother Elizabeth II.

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And it coincided with the start of Guillermo’s first trip, 40, as crown prince to the United States, where his younger brother Harry and his wife, the mixed-race exactriz, have lived since 2020. Meghan Marklewho left the United Kingdom and the British royal family, claiming among other things that they were the target of racist comments.

“I was very disappointed in what happened to the guest at Buckingham Palace last night,” A spokesman for William and his wife Catherine told reporters in Boston, where the prince will present his “Earthshot” awards for innovative green projects on Friday.

“Obviously I wasn’t there, but I think it’s very important for me to point out that racism has no place in our society.”he added.

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Guillermo had angrily responded in 2021 that his is not “a racist family at all” when Harry and Meghan confided to the American television star interviewer Oprah Winfrey that one of their members expressed concern about the skin color their children would have.

On Wednesday, Ngozi Fulani, director of the organization Sistah Space defense of victims of gender violenceexplained that a person from the royal entourage had insistently asked him about his origins during a reception held the day before by the queen consort Camilla at Buckingham Palace.

Ngozi Fulani (left) participated in a visit to Buckingham Palace led by Queen Consort Camilla. (AP / Kin Cheung).

fulani expressed on Twitter his “contradictory feelings” about the visit, recounting that Ten minutes after arriving a lady “pulled her hair back” to see the identification pinned to her chest, asking her where she was from.

After answering that he had been born and raised in the United Kingdomthe woman insisted: “No, but where in Africa do you come from?”, “No, but where are you really from, where do your people come from?”, “When did they first come?”

Elizabeth II’s trusted lady

Fulani assures that she did not know what to do, “she could not tell the queen consort”, and she and her two companions were “stunned and speechless.”

The activist referred to the woman only as “Lady SH”but British media identified her as susan hussey83 years old.

William’s Godmother, Hussey was Elizabeth II’s bridesmaid for decades and one of her most trusted assistants, who accompanied her in the car that took her to her husband’s funeral, one of the saddest days of her life, in April 2021.

Camila eliminated the figure of the bridesmaids, but Hussey was kept as a member of the entourage.

Widow of a former president of the BBC, her character even appears in an episode of the last season of “The Crown”, related to the explosive interview that Princess Diana, mother of William and Harry, gave to British television in 1995 revealing the infidelities in her marriage to Carlos.

The royal palace took Tuesday’s incident “extremely seriously.”

“Unacceptable and truly regrettable comments have been made,” He acknowledged in a statement, adding that “the person in question wishes to express his deepest apologies and has left his honorary role with immediate effect.”

In an interview with Britain’s Channel 4, the head of the British police’s counter-terrorism division, Neil Basu, said on Tuesday that Meghan Markle suffered “disgusting” death threats from ultra-rightists in the UK while she was an active member of the British royal family.

Harry publicly criticized the coverage of Meghan, 41, in the British tabloid press and condemned the “blatant racism of social media trolls and article comments on the web”.

Source: Elcomercio