By Tony O’Riley-
Buckingham Palace won’t investigate allegations of racism by Meghan Markle because they would by now have established who was responsible for the racist comments in which a royal member expressed concern about how dark the colour of Archie’s skin would be.
That’s assuming it was not raised by Harry internally before it was revealed during the Oprah Winfrey interview. It can be safely assumed that the palace are fully aware of the person responsible for the comment, and would have known this even before the programme was aired.
Labour leader, Keir Starmer has called for the allegations to be investigated.
Shadow education secretary, Kate Green, said Meghan’s accusations were “really distressing, shocking”, adding that they should be treated by the palace with the utmost seriousness, and fully investigated.”
The Palace is still considering its response to the many shocking claims aired during the interview.
In the interview, the duchess said that when she was pregnant with Archie the royal expressed “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
Asked about this by Winfrey, Meghan said there had been “several conversations” with her husband, Prince Harry, about Archie’s likely skin tone, and “what that would mean or look like”.
Winfrey asked whether this meant there were concerns her child would be “too brown”. Meghan replied: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”
Palace officials reportedly had a prepared statement highlighting the family’s love and concern for the couple, but it was not signed off by the monarch.
The Times newspaper reported that the Queen wanted more time to consider her response to the lengthy interview.
Meghan and Harry laid bare their brief lives as a working royal couple, alleging that a member of the family – not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – made a racist comment about their unborn son.
Meghan suggested during the interview that her son was not made a prince because of his race – although rules set by George V meant he was not entitled to be one.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the allegations made by the duchess must be taken seriously.
He said: “Nobody, but nobody, should be prejudiced (against) because of the colour of their skin or because of their mental health issues.”
Harry also said it “hurts” that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan following the racism he said she faced in the media.
Meanwhile in the US, where race is recognised to be a big issue, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton backed Meghan.
The duchess also spoke about having suicidal thoughts but said her approaches to the monarchy for help were turned down.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki praised Harry and Meghan’s courage when asked if US President Joe Biden had watched the interview.