Prince Charles is the member of the royal family who raised questions about the likely color of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s babies’ skin, the author of a new book about the royals which addresses controversy has exclusively told The Daily Beast.
Christopher Andersen, who has been covering the royal family for 50 years, first at Time magazine and then as a senior editor running People magazine’s royals coverage in the ’70s and ’80s, also exclusively told The Daily Beast that relations between the royals are now so poor that William “isn’t returning Harry’s calls” and Charles and Harry “haven’t spoken since Prince Philip’s funeral.”
Andersen told The Daily Beast, “My sources are rock-solid and they helped me unravel the mystery of which royal Harry and Meghan were talking about when they said a member of the family had brought up the issue of how light or dark their children might turn out to be and that there were concerns about what that would mean for the monarchy.
“I was able to trace the origins of the controversy back to Charles casually asking Camilla what she thought Harry and Meghan’s children might look like—hair color, eye color, complexion. Keep in mind that at the time Charles was extremely fond of Meghan and had become friendly with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.”
Andersen says the remarks were the “innocent musings of a grandfather” that were “twisted over time by palace operatives into something far more racially charged and toxic, so by the time it reached Harry he was shocked at what he was hearing. When Harry complained to his father, Charles suggested that he was being oversensitive.”
As The Daily Beast reported Sunday, Andersen’s new book, Brothers And Wives: Inside The Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan (Gallery), out Tuesday, says that on the day Harry and Meghan publicly announced their engagement, Charles asked his wife, Camilla, “I wonder what the children look like?”
Source: The Daily Beast
Also Read: BBC Under Fire for ‘Racist’ & ‘Disrespectful’ Cartoon of Meghan Markle
Prince William has been criticized again for addressing racism in soccer after he did not publicly support his sister-in-law Meghan Markle after she spoke about facing racism.
The Duke of Cambridge said he was “sickened” by the racist abuse aimed at England players following their loss to Italy at the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.
“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour. It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable,” he wrote on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Twitter account on Monday.
While William has been outspoken on the matter of racism in soccer, he defended his family after Duchess of Sussex spoke about her experience with racism in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7.
During the interview, she said that some royals raised “concerns” about how dark her and Harry’s first child’s skin would be. She and Harry did not mention the names of these royals, though Winfrey said that Harry told her it was not the Queen or Prince Philip who made the remarks.
A March 9 statement from Buckingham Palace on behalf of the Queen also acknowledged the allegations, saying that “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning.”
When asked about the interview by reporters on March 11, William responded that “we’re very much not a racist family.”
Royal fans say William’s comments on racism in soccer are hypocritical
Twitter user Love, Lola pointed out that Meghan Markle was trending on Twitter in the US following William’s statement on Monday.
“Many were calling out his hypocrisy,” the Twitter user wrote, before sharing screenshots of the 22 verified accounts she said she had found criticizing the duke.
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Also read: Meghan accuses UK royals of racism over son’s skin color
As Oprah Winfrey’s TV interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex reverberates internationally, it’s left the more than 50 million viewers grappling with the couple’s claims of racism and lack of support that Meghan says drove her to thoughts of suicide.
But for many Black women worldwide, the headlines and social media discussions were painfully familiar. With social media conversations questioning whether racism affected Meghan’s treatment by the British press and royal family, many Black women say it is yet another example of a Black woman’s experiences with racism being disregarded and denied.
“White supremacy seeks to isolate you, make you feel like no one is listening and no one is supporting you. It uses that as a tool to keep in power,” said Gaye Theresa Johnson, associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at UCLA. “And so when you aren’t validated in your feelings or feel supported, that does real harm.”
Read the complete article at: VOA News
As Oprah Winfrey’s TV interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex reverberates internationally, it’s left the more than 50 million viewers grappling with the couple’s claims of racism and lack of support that Meghan says drove her to thoughts of suicide. But for many Black women worldwide, the headlines and social media discussions were painfully familiar. With social media conversations questioning whether racism affected Meghan’s treatment by the British press and royal family, many Black women say it is yet another example of a Black woman’s experiences with racism being disregarded and denied. “White supremacy seeks to isolate you, make you feel like no one is listening and no one is supporting you. It uses that as a tool to keep in power,” said Gaye Theresa Johnson, associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at UCLA. “And so when you aren’t validated in your feelings or feel supported, that does real harm.” Invalidations Invalidations
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry said there were concerns about how dark her son Archie’s skin would be before his birth and that such worries explained why he was not given the title of prince.
Markle, whose mother is Black and father is white, said she was naive before she married into the British royal family in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self-harm after asking for help but getting none.
“They didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” Markle said in an interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey that aired on broadcaster CBS late on Sunday in the United States, where she and Harry now live.
Read the complete article at: Aljazeera
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry said there were concerns about how dark her son Archie’s skin would be before his birth and that such worries explained why he was not given the title of prince. Markle, whose mother is Black and father is white, said she was naive before she married into the British royal family in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self-harm after asking for help but getting none. “They didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” Markle said in an interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey that aired on broadcaster CBS late on Sunday in the United States, where she and Harry now live. “They didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” Markle said in an interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey that aired on broadcaster CBS late on Sunday in the United States, where she and Harry now live. UK royals UK royals
Meghan Markle engagement to Prince Harry exposes ‘quiet’ racism
Disparaging reactions to Prince Harry’s relationship with actress Meghan Markle have highlighted the racism and class snobbery that persist in British society.
The American will become the first person who identifies as biracial to join the upper echelons of the U.K.’s royal family when she marries Harry in May.
But some black women said coverage of the Los Angeles native’s roots by some media outlets is indicative of the underlying racism that they experience daily.
“I feel like racism in the U.K. is pretty insidious,” said Paula Akpan, a co-founder of Black Girl Festival which celebrates black British women. She added racism tended to be “not as openly acknowledged” as in the U.S.
Following the royal engagement, The Daily Mail publicized one of its stories with a tweet reading “from slaves to royalty, Meghan Markle’s upwardly mobile family.” Last year, the newspaper suggested that Markle was “(almost) straight outta Compton.”
Journalist Rachel Johnson, the sister of British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, last year wrote in The Mail on Sunday newspaper that Markle could help bring “rich and exotic DNA” to the royal family. She also described Markle’s mother as “a dreadlocked African-American lady from the wrong side of the tracks.”
The Spectator magazine this week questioned the “Suits” star’s suitability for Prince Harry because she is divorced and attended a Catholic school.
“Obviously, 70 years ago, Meghan Markle would have been the kind of woman the prince would have had for a mistress, not a wife,” a comment piece read.
Harry last year took the highly unusual step of asking the media to stop the “wave of abuse and harassment” against Markle.
The prince cited a “smear” on the front page of a national newspaper, “racial undertones” of newspaper opinion pieces, and “outright sexism and racism of social media trolls.”