London – Britain’s royal family was under pressure on Tuesday to respond to Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s claims of racism, triggering a crisis for the institution not seen since the time of his late mother, Diana. The couple set off a whirl of speculation about the identity of the senior royal who asked how dark their child’s skin would be before he was born.
Meghan, whose mother is black and father is white, also spoke about how she had suicidal thoughts but failed to get any support during her time in the royal family.
The racism claims left interviewer Oprah Winfrey open-mouthed but have so far not led to any official response from Buckingham Palace, which newspapers reported had been left in turmoil. The Daily Mail, which devoted 25 pages of coverage to the “toxic” claims, headlined its front page “What have they done?”
The Times newspaper said Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, wanted more time to consider her reply. Prince Charles, Harry’s father and the heir to the throne, meanwhile visited a Covid-19 vaccination centre at a northwest London church on Tuesday, in his first public appearance since the row erupted.
One worker told him she was from Nigeria, which the prince said he had visited. “Lots of different ethnic groups,” he said. “Do give them my kind regards next time you speak to them.”
But Charles did not respond to questions about what he thought about the interview.
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