[ 2021-03-12 ]

Royal family ‘very much not racist’, insists duke
The Duke of Cambridge denied he belonged to a
“racist family” yesterday as he publicly
addressed claims made by his brother and the
Duchess of Sussex.

In a sign of how seriously William is taking the
crisis engulfing the monarchy, he became the first
royal to reject the allegations when he spoke out
at an engagement. He told reporters: “We’re
very much not a racist family.”

He also revealed that he had not communicated with
his brother since the Duke and Duchess of
Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which
they accused the royal family of racism and
neglect. Asked if he had spoken to Harry he
replied: “No I haven’t spoken to him yet but I
will do.”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited a school
in east London to meet teachers and mental health
professionals
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited a school
in east London to meet teachers and mental health
professionals
JUSTIN TALLIS/GETTY IMAGES
The only official response from the palace so far
has been a brief statement on behalf of the Queen
which said that the issue of race was
“concerning”.

William was confronted by a shouted question from
a television reporter as he and his wife left an
engagement at a school in Stratford, east London.
When the Prince of Wales faced a similar question
on Tuesday, he gave a nervous chuckle and carried
on walking.

The most damaging allegation of the interview with
the Sussexes was their claim that an unnamed royal
had expressed concern about how dark their
then-unborn son Archie’s skin might be. However,
they would not be drawn on who had offended them.

They also said the duchess had not received any
help when she was feeling suicidal, despite
talking to someone “very senior” in the
institution.

Buckingham Palace said the issues raised in the
interview would be addressed privately.

The duke’s disclosure that he has not spoken to
Harry since the interview was broadcast is a
measure of how deep the rift is between the two
brothers and in a sign of how seriously the Queen
is taking the rift, it has been revealed that she
plans to contact Harry and Meghan personally to
offer an olive branch.

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William is said to be very sad about how bad
things have got between himself and Harry. Over
the past year or so their relationship was
understood to have improved slightly, with both
making an effort to get in touch. However, with
senior members of the royal family said to be
“reeling” at Harry and Meghan’s accusations,
the interview is likely to have set that back
again.

In the interview Harry stopped short of attacking
his older brother. “I love William to bits,
he’s my brother,” he said, but he described
their relationship as “space, at the moment”.
He added: “Time heals all things, hopefully.”


While members of the royal family usually ignore
impromptu questions, Prince William’s reply
shows that he is more willing to confront the
interview claims publicly
JUSTIN TALLIS/GETTY IMAGES
The Queen is expected to speak to the couple on
the phone in the next few days, according to the
Daily Mail. She is said to have issued a
“three-line whip” to stop staff from
discussing the situation publicly.

“It is difficult to overestimate how
shellshocked everyone is by what has happened,”
a source told the newspaper. “People are
literally reeling from what has happened, and some
staff would dearly love to publicly rebut some of
what has been said about them. But the Queen has
taken a very measured, sensible approach. She is
leading by example.”

There was genuine hurt within the Palace at the
suggestion that Meghan had been cut adrift and
left to fend for herself, the newspaper reported.
“There was a brilliant team of very experienced
and loyal aides to help them,” a source said.
“Sadly, she and Harry were willing to listen to
no one.”

Yesterday the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
visited School21 in Stratford, east London, to
mark the return of children to class and the
introduction to secondary schools of Mentally
Healthy Schools, a project the duchess launched in
primary schools in 2018.

Separately, the TV presenter Alex Beresford has
addressed Piers Morgan’s exit from Good Morning
Britain over his views about the Duchess of
Sussex, saying: “I didn’t want him to quit,
but I did want him to listen.”

William said he intended to speak to his brother
William said he intended to speak to his brother
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Beresford, whose on-air rebuke to Morgan on the
ITV programme this week prompted his colleague to
storm off the set, said: “Challenging his
opinion was not an outrage.”

Morgan claimed the duchess had lied about having
suicidal thoughts.

In a statement on Twitter, Beresford said:
“There is so much that could be said. Piers’
departure sincerely wasn’t the conclusion I was
hoping for.

“Piers and I have had a lively, cheeky on-air
relationship. We both wanted to be on the show
Tuesday morning, and from our very public
conversations on Twitter, we both knew how
strongly our opinions differed on the treatment of
Harry and Meghan pre and post the interview that
has split the world.

“I hoped we could reach a place of
understanding. It’s sad that we weren’t able
to get there, but challenging his opinion was not
an outrage. On this occasion, we have to agree to
disagree.

“Piers has always supported my growth. He’s
given me advice on several occasions and for that
I am grateful.”


William showed he is human
It is hard to escape the impression that
Buckingham Palace has been in a state of paralysis
since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave their
interview to Oprah Winfrey. Faced with accusations
of racism and neglect, they took more than 24
hours to come up with a reply.

That statement, a mere 61 words long, was not a
bad effort by the standard of Buckingham Palace
pronouncements. It acknowledged the seriousness of
the racism charge that had been levelled against
the royal family. It questioned, in the gentlest
possible way, the veracity of some of the
couple’s claims.

And it expressed the family’s love towards the
Sussexes, which was an important gesture when love
between the two sides seems in short supply.

But there was not an awful lot of humanity to it.
Now William has responded like any human being
would: with a sense of frustration at the
situation in which he finds himself, and with a
hint of the pain he must be experiencing behind
palace walls.

Royal engagements continued for the Duchess of
Cambridge yesterday as she and William visited a
school in east London
Royal engagements continued for the Duchess of
Cambridge yesterday as she and William visited a
school in east London
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
After all, any other family faced with the same
accusation would want to say, “Hang on, we’re
not racists! What are you talking about?”

William’s replies, voiced over his shoulder and
through a mask as he left a school in east London,
are in contrast to his father’s response to a
similar situation during a tour of a vaccination
centre in north London on Tuesday.

Charles kept quiet, as he always does: he hates
having questions shouted at him. Reporters who
break the rules are usually given a stern
talking-to.

William hates that sort of behaviour too. But in
these circumstances he decided it was the right
thing to do. He knew a question was coming: he is
not stupid. The possibility had already been
discussed at Kensington Palace. And the media pack
at the school made no secret of the fact that they
wanted to ask a question.

He had clearly made up his mind, therefore, that
walking on and keeping his mouth shut was not
going to cut it. Silence was no longer an option.

Within the royal family, William represents the
future. He knows there are times to challenge the
royal family’s traditional approach to moments
of crisis, and it is up to the younger generation
to lead the way.

With the royal family facing the greatest
challenge to its reputation for decades, he knew
it was time to speak out. It was a small step, and
there is a long way to go. But it was a beginning.

Source - The Times, UK

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