Queen urged to publicly condemn racism by Labour MP
Following allegations made by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during their interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Queen has been urged to publicly condemn racism.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex painted the royal family as an uncaring and racist institution which failed to support the couple, especially as the duchess struggled with her mental health.
In an attempt to start to heal the divisions, Buckingham Palace released a statement on Tuesday where she publicly acknowledged the “challenging” period the couple experienced when working royals.
However, Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said the Queen should go further and publicly condemn racism.
Ribeiro-Addy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There should be a public condemnation of racism. They did it with bullying, why would they not do it with racism?
“The Queen’s response was the least that could happen.”
It is wrong for people who have never faced racism to discount the experiences of those who have.
The failure to publicly condemn the racism experienced by the Duchess of Sussex is not good enough.
The public expects high standards from ALL public institutions. pic.twitter.com/EZ59tAofWb— Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (@BellRibeiroAddy) March 10, 2021
During the interview, Winfrey was left open-mouthed when Markle and Harry recounted how a family member – not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – raised concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone might be before he was born.
Ribeiro-Addy said that the couple “went to great lengths to make the point that the Queen was not the issue” and there now “needs to be a response from the institution”.
Watch: The key revelations from Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview
She added: “The monarchy is a public institution that receives public money and any criticism of the institution should really be met with a forceful response from the institution about what they are going to do.
“We expect (that) of any institution. Why not the monarchy, why not the palace?”
Accusations of racism against the Palace have been rejected by some commentators, including Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine, who said of the Queen: “There is not a head of state today, or at any time, who has done more to foster love and understanding between people of different races and cultures than the Queen, with Prince Philip (still in hospital, lest we forget) by her side.”
She described the Buckingham Palace statement as “a model of restrained elegance”.
Conservative front-bencher Jacob Rees-Mogg also rushed to the defence of the Queen, who he said is “held in enormous affection”.
Speaking on his MoggCast podcast for the ConservativeHome website, Rees-Mogg added: “She has been a model of duty since she made that statement in South Africa aged 21 about how her whole life, whether it be long or short, would be spent in the service of the whole imperial family.
“That is what she has done. She has done her duty. I think she is loved across her realms for that.
“And I don't think interviews with chat show hosts in the United States makes a great deal of difference to that.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman has refused to comment on the interview, after being asked whether Boris Johnson believed the allegations surrounding racism were concerning.
He said: “The prime minister was asked about the documentary on Monday and I’ve got nothing to add to what the prime minister said on Monday.”
The spokesman declined to be drawn on whether Johnson supports the decision by the palace to investigate the claims within the family.
The highly-anticipated palace statement on the claims made in the interview – issued on behalf of the Queen on Tuesday – said that “some recollections may vary”, but that “they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately”.
