The royal family’s silence regarding the Black Lives Matter movement did not go ignored in 2020, and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey has pushed the issue of racism in the monarchy to the forefront once more.
Harry said racism played a “major role” in the couple’s decision to leave the United Kingdom, they claim a member of the royal family expressed “concerns” about how dark Archie’s skin would be before he was born, and Markle claimed her treatment in the tabloids in comparison to Kate Middleton was racist.
The Queen’s family was “saddened to learn” how difficult things had been, according to a statement released by Buckingham Palace on her behalf. The statement continued, “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may differ, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed privately by the family.”
A few days later, Prince William stated, “We are not at anyway a racist family.”
While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been involved with various anti-racism organizations and have spoken openly about the killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, other monarchy representatives have remained silent.
However, this is not altogether unexpected. Since the earliest days of the monarchy, the royal family has been accused of turning a blind eye to racism, and in some cases, even enabling it.
Queen Elizabeth I was related to Britain’s slave trade in the 1500s, as she openly endorsed Captain John Hawkins’ capture and exchange of 300 Africans for hides, ginger, and sugar in 1562.
Prior to her death on Thursday, the late Queen Elizabeth II never publicly acknowledged her ancestor’s deeds.
Then there was Abdul Karim, Queen Victoria’s Indian attendant. According to The Guardian, the royal household “did everything they could to get rid of him” due to his skin color. After the death of the queen, they succeeded in sending him suddenly back to India.
Royal family members have ignored accusations of racism as recently as June 2020, when the Queen did not reply to claims that the royal honors award is “very insulting” and parallels the murder of Floyd.
NBC News reported in September 2021 that Kenneth Olisa, the first Black lord-lieutenant of London, claimed in an interview that the topic of race became more prevalent in the family after George Floyd’s death.
The Queen has never expressed regret for the monarchy’s racial history.
In recent years, some members of the royal family have accepted responsibility for their own discriminatory behavior.
Prince Harry, then 20 years old, upset the public and lawmakers in 2005 by wearing a Nazi outfit to a costume party.
According to The New York Times, at the time Harry stated, “I apologize for my bad choice of costume.”
Four years later, the prince issued a second apology, claiming he was “very sorry” for using a racial slur to refer to his friend in a military training film.
After being accused of wearing a racist brooch to lunch with Meghan Markle in 2017, Princess Michael of Kent issued a public apology.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s husband, is known for his provocative sense of humor and has frequently made controversial statements on royal engagements.
These include informing the President of Nigeria that he appeared “ready for bed” when he dressed national dress to meet Prince Phillip in 2003 and compared Ethiopian art to “the sort of thing my kid might bring home from art class” in 1965.
During his 1986 visit to China, he told a British student that if he stayed much longer, he would return home with “slitty eyes.”
The majority of these remarks have passed without acknowledgement from the palace. The Independent says that the duke issued a public apology during a 1999 visit to an electronics facility in Scotland, during which he stated that a cluttered fuse box “looked like an Indian put it in.”
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle.
Press Organization
In contrast, the Queen has never acknowledged the British monarchy’s most notorious connection to racism: the slave trade.
Queen Elizabeth I provided a ship to Hawkins, the first documented Englishman to transport enslaved Africans, in 1564.
While Prince Charles has already acknowledged “the heinous crime of the slave trade and the unfathomable pain it inflicted,” the Queen has not made a public statement on this matter.
As royal critic Kristen Meinzer told Insider, however, the monarchy “was instrumental in financing the slave trade,” therefore Charles’s apology does not even come close to making apologies for the past.
“The Church of England, whose head is the Queen, deliberately perpetuated and profited from slavery,” Meinzer told Insider. “It is not sufficient for the son of the monarch to apologize; the monarch must also apologize.”
Peter Tatchell, a human rights activist and journalist, stated that Her Majesty’s silence demonstrated “a refusal to confront past atrocities.”
Tatchell told Insider that the Queen’s apology for the monarchy’s role in the slave trade is long overdue.
Tatchell said, “Her failure to do so demonstrates a lack of contrition, an inability to confront past injustices, and a lack of commitment to a multiracial Britain.”
The Buckingham Palace declined Insider’s request for comment on this article.
The monarchy could be viewed as a representation of institutional racism.
Tatchell argues that the monarchy exemplifies institutional racism because it has never had a non-white head of state.
Tatchell told Insider that the British system of an inherited head of state is racist by default.
This is institutional racism.
Obviously, this might change in future generations; for instance, if Prince George married a non-white person and they had children, the next successor to the throne would be of mixed race.
Meghan Markle is the first known mixed-race member of the royal family.
However, other historians believe that Queen Charlotte was of mixed race because she descended from an African-rooted branch of the Portuguese royal line.
However, there is no clear proof of Charlotte’s ancestry, and when the Boston Globe inquired about it to Buckingham Palace in 1999, the matter was deemed insignificant.
According to NPR, palace spokesperson David Buck told the newspaper, “This has been speculated for decades.” “This is a question of history, and frankly, we have more pressing matters to discuss.”
The royals defended Meghan Markle little against racism.
Many observers believed that the racial abuse the duchess endured at the hands of British tabloids was at least partially responsible for Markle’s decision to quit the royal family and the United Kingdom.
In their interview with Winfrey, the couple admitted that racism was “a major factor” in their decision to leave the United Kingdom.
Harry was the lone royal to defend Markle after a series of prejudiced articles indicated that the duchess’ hometown was “gang-torn” and “(nearly) straight out of Compton” and that her avocado consumption was “fueling human rights abuses, drought, and murder.”
As reported by Insider’s Armani Syed, no member of the royal family has ever criticised Markle’s treatment by British tabloids, and Harry remarked “that stings.” In 2016, during the beginning of the couple’s relationship, Harry himself had issued a statement addressing the problem.
The Duchess of Sussex on the day of her wedding.
In 2020, Markle spoke openly about her connection with tabloids, stating that the “huge amount of erroneous and destructive publications” caused her “extreme emotional suffering” during her time in the royal family.
In the years leading up to the royal wedding, certain tabloids also targeted Doria Ragland, the mother of the duchess. The Daily Mail published photographs of Ragland’s residence and made disparaging comparisons to Kensington Palace.
The 2016 article states, “The crime-ridden and gang-ridden Los Angeles area that Doria Ragland, 60, calls home couldn’t be more dissimilar to London’s lovely Kensington.”
Markle’s treatment could be likened to that of Karim, who was allegedly discriminated against on the basis of his race. According to The Guardian, false rumors about Karim’s father’s occupation were created to make him appear less fit for the royal household.
Prior to her recent comments following the Oprah interview, the Queen had never commented on the possibility that racism played a role in the Sussexes’ departure. In an official statement issued in January 2020, following the announcement of their step back, she acknowledged the “intense scrutiny” Markle and Harry had endured.
Markle did not confess that she felt “unprotected” by the royal family’s press team until after she had left the family, since she was apparently forbidden from defending herself against the media.
Markle confirmed in the Winfrey interview that she was prohibited from receiving professional care when her mental health was suffering, and that the family was refused security after withdrawing from royal life.
However, one of the most startling disclosures from the interview was that a member of the royal family raised “concerns” about the skin tone of Harry and Markle’s children. Harry has subsequently confirmed that it was not the Queen or Prince Philip. neither party would clarify on who the individual was.
It is quite doubtful that the royals will accept responsibility.
More than two years have passed since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the subsequent global eruption of Black Lives Matter protests.
Olisa remarked in September 2021, “The question is what more can we do to bind society in order to eradicate these boundaries. They [The royals] care deeply about making this one nation bound by the same ideals,” adding that the family backed the Black Lives Matter movement.
Prior to the announcement of the family’s support for the movement by the senior aide, royal experts argued that the royal family had not publicly expressed support for the movement because certain aspects of it could be considered “political.”
However, they might have expressed their support by working with anti-racism organisations or by releasing a pro-equality statement, which would not have necessitated naming BLM by name.
At their first official engagement together, the Queen and Meghan Markle.
During the UK lockdown, Prince William and Kate Middleton made video call interactions with numerous charities and groups, yet they did not include BLM and anti-racism organizations.
Although it is uncommon for the pair to discuss race, it is not unheard of. The Duke of Cambridge stated in 2019 that he was “fed up” and “bored” with racism in soccer, as reported by The Guardian.
Tatchell stated, “given the norm that the royals must remain neutral and out of politics, it would be difficult for them to overtly endorse the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Tatchell continued, “There is nothing preventing them from making a generic statement in favour of racial equality and inclusion, and their refusal to do so tells volumes about their white privilege attitude.”
As Prince Harry recently stated in a video message regarding racism, “We cannot go forward unless we remember the past.”
It is difficult to picture the Queen supporting BLM and anti-racism in general, given that she has failed to address the undeniable racism inside the institution of the royal family over her 70 years on the reign.
Meinzer told Insider, “The longer they choose to remain silent, the longer they choose to be complicit in white supremacy.”
Meinzer continued, “As Desmond Tutu famously stated, if you remain neutral in circumstances of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
