Backlash against Harry’s screeching U-turn on royal racism rages on

The backlash against Prince Harry‘s frantic denials that he or his wife Meghan ever accused the Royal Family of racism has raged on for a second day, with the Duke of Sussex today facing claims that he is now ‘undermining’ his own fight against ‘unconscious bias’.

In an incendiary interview to plug his bombshell memoir Spare, the prince told ITV journalist and old friend Tom Bradby that the Royal Family were guilty of ‘unconscious bias’, but denied calling them racist while discussing Meghan’s controversial claim to Oprah Winfrey that an unnamed royal had expressed ‘concern’ about Archie’s skin colour.

Bradby – and millions of viewers – were left visibly stunned by Harry’s screeching U-turn, which sparked a backlash and allegations that the Duke had ‘hung his family out to dry’ on an accusation which he helped to fuel and then left unchallenged for nearly two years.

Lawyer and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who has previously supported the Sussexes, today claimed there is ‘absolutely’ a ‘problem of racism in the Royal Family’. Taking aim at Harry’s defence of the late Queen’s former lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey after she was accused of racism, she called the Duke’s repeated attempts to draw a distinction between racism and unconscious bias in his interviews ‘disingenuous’.

She told Sky News presenter Kay Burley: ‘He’s clearly on a journey of learning and the good thing that he’s said is that he’s willing to learn. But he needs to unpick his learning about unconscious bias and racism, they are the same thing, there is no difference. 

In an incendiary interview to plug his bombshell memoir Spare , the prince told ITV journalist and old friend Tom Bradby that the Royal Family were guilty of ‘unconscious bias’ but denied calling them racist while discussing Meghan’s controversial claim to Oprah Winfrey that an unnamed royal had expressed ‘concern’ about Archie’s skin colour

Lawyer and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu today claimed there is ‘absolutely’ a ‘problem of racism in the Royal Family’

‘And him not coming out and clearly stating that there is a serious issue of racism, it undermines his commitment to be part of the solution, and so when he uses examples like Lady Hussey not meaning any harm to Ngozi Fulani, or saying for instance no we didn’t say they were racist when they raised concerns about the colour of our son’s skin, to me it’s just disingenuous’.

She added: ‘There is a significant issue of racism, I think the royal family has to be aware that they face a significant reputational risk – not because of Harry… but because they refuse to change and to demonstrate that they understand that change is necessary.’

Oprah asked Meghan in 2021: ‘They were concerned that if he were too brown, that would be a problem? Are you saying that?’ The Duchess responded: ‘If that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?’

It prompted a worldwide guessing game about the senior royal who said it and hours later Harry’s estranged brother, William, was forced to publicly remark that they were ‘very much not a racist family’. The Queen gave a rare statement and said ‘the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning’ but stressed that ‘recollections may vary’.

But on Sunday night, Harry told Bradby that the Royal Family is not racist.  The British broadcaster, a friend of Harry’s, raised the 2021 Oprah interview with Meghan and said: ‘You accused members of your family of racism.’ 

But Harry snapped back: ‘No I didn’t. The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?’

The duke then insisted the comments made about his son Archie’s skin colour were ‘unconscious bias’. Mr Bradby appeared taken aback by the answer – while experts said that Harry clearly didn’t understand the term he was now using. 

Yesterday, former BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond told ITV’s Lorraine: ‘So much of what he said seemed conflicted and contradictory… he allowed his family to be hung out to dry on an accusation of racism which Harry says now he never said and wasn’t true. That in my view is almost unforgivable.’ 

Harry is facing allegations that he failed to ‘correct the narrative’ around racism in the Royal Family after sensationally accusing an unnamed royal of asking about the skin colour of his and Meghan’s then-unborn son Archie during his bombshell Oprah interview 

Jennie Bond (left) told Lorraine: ‘He allowed his family to be hung out to dry on an accusation of racism which Harry says now he never said and wasn’t true’. ITV’s Royal Editor Chris Ship (right) said: ‘Harry is right to say that Meghan or Harry didn’t use the word ”racist” at any point… [but] Harry didn’t correct the narrative when this whole racism row then started’

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Critics accused the Duke of not understanding the difference between denying the royals are racist while also accusing them of ‘unconscious bias’, arguing they amount to the same thing

And ITV News’s royal editor Chris Ship said on Good Morning Britain: ‘Harry is right to say [they] didn’t use the word ”racist” at any point… [but] Harry didn’t correct the narrative when this whole racism row then started, and not correcting the narrative is something he accused the Royal Family of not doing, when he criticised Jeremy Clarkson and other things as well.’ 

Royal correspondent and biographer Robert Jobson said: ‘Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter said Prince Harry and Meghan were handed an award for their ‘heroic’ stance against the ‘structural racism’ of the royal family. Harry says neither he or Meg said the RF was racist. Perhaps they should give the award back then’. 

While the Duke has not referred to the Oprah interview in his memoir, he was asked by Bradby in the interview to plug the book: ‘Wouldn’t you describe that as essentially racist?’

Harry replied: ‘I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family.’ But he adds: ‘The difference between racism and unconscious bias… the two things are different. 

‘But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.’

And he accused Buckingham Palace of failing to follow up on promises it made in the wake of the Oprah controversy, including appointing a ‘diversity tsar’.

The Duke of Sussex said there is a place for the monarchy in the modern world if they addressed unconscious bias.

Asked on Good Morning America this morning if he thinks there is a place for the British monarchy in the 21st century, he said: ‘I genuinely believe that there is. Not the way that it is now.’

Asked if they need to modernise and if so in what way, Harry said: ‘I think the same process that I went through with regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them. Not racism, but unconscious bias, if not confronted, if not learned and grown from, that can then move into racism. But there was an enormous missed opportunity with my wife.’

During the interview, Harry also said: ‘I think my mother would have realised the missed opportunity with Meghan being part of the institution, part of the monarchy.’

The Duke of Sussex conceded that the Royal Family were not racist but said they were guilty of ‘unconscious bias’ while discussing the controversial claim in an incendiary interview to plug his new memoir

Pictured, Meghan, Archie and Harry at a Polo match in Wokingham in 2019

Harry and Meghan’s ‘tell-all’ conversation with Oprah in 2021 marked their first major interview since they stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family in 2020. 

One of the most shocking moments from the interview came when Meghan said there were ‘several conversations’ between herself, Harry and members of the Royal Family about ‘how dark’ their baby could be before Archie was born.

Speaking about the family, Oprah had asked Meghan: ‘Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?’

Meghan then replied: ‘I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but that – if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?’

In his interview with Bradby last night, Harry said: ‘That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.’ 

His refusal to name the person involved sparked an international guessing game about who the ‘royal racist’ was.

In a statement the late Queen said the claims were ‘concerning’ but stressed that ‘recollections may vary’ and the claims would be addressed privately.

Referring to the racism allegations made previously by his wife, Harry bridled at the suggestion by Bradby that he accused his family of racism, snapping back: ‘No I didn’t. The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?’ 

‘She said there were troubling comments about Archie’s skin colour,’ Bradby replied.

‘There was – there was concern about his skin colour,’ Harry corrected him. When Bradby suggested that there was a danger by not naming the person concerned, Harry said: ‘Yes, you’re right, the key word is concern, which was troubling.

‘But you speak to any other couple, mixed race couple around the world, and you will probably find that the white side of the family have either openly discussed it, or secretly discussed, you know, ‘What are the kids gonna look like?’ And that is part of a, you know, bigger conversation that needs to be had.’

He claimed that after the interview with Ms Winfrey ‘they said that they were gonna [sic] bring in a diversity tsar. That hasn’t happened’. 

He added: ‘Everything they said was gonna [sic] happen hasn’t happened. I’ve always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy – you have a responsibility and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.’

Harry told Netflix: ‘In [the Royal Family], sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias’

In the couple’s Netflix series Harry & Meghan, the Duke claimed: ‘In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.

‘The thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one’s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself you then need to make it right. It is education. It is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.’

The Duke added that members of the Royal Family asked why the Duchess should be ‘protected’ when they questioned newspaper headlines about her.

‘The direction from the palace was don’t say anything,’ he said. ‘But what people need to understand is, as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well. So it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like, ”My wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?”

‘I said ”The difference here is the race element”.’