When Meghan Markle went to meet with her soon-to-be in-laws at a royal Christmas party, one of the other royals wore a racist brooch.
On Wednesday, Princess Michael of Kent, the wife of Prince Michael of Kent–the Queen’s first cousin–attended the Queen’s annual Christmas lunch. But when people saw the brooch she decided to wear to the event, tongues started wagging.
The brooch appears to be “blackamoor” jewelry, a kind of jewelry that originated in Venice in the 16th century. This style of jewelry often depicts exotic or romanticized versions of Africans, particularly slaves.
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This brooch in particular appeared to depict a Black person wearing a crown and jewels.
It’s a poor fashion decision for any occasion, but people particularly took offense because Meghan Markle is biracial.
As for Princess Michael, she’s no stranger to this kind of controversy. Back in 2004, she drew criticism when she told a group of African-Americans at a diner in New York to “go back to the colonies.”
Markle, who is engaged to marry Prince Harry in May of next year, spent her first Christmas with the royals at Buckingham Palace this week. Hopefully, the rest of her experience wasn’t as eyebrow-raising as it must have been when she met with Princess Michael.
Racism and the royal couple
Markle is no stranger to racist responses to her presence in the royal family. She’s been getting heat ever since she and Prince Harry started dating.
“It’s disheartening,” Meghan told the BBC previously about the racism she has seen since she and Harry officially announced their relationship.
“You know it’s a shame that that is the climate in this world to focus that much on that or that that would be discriminatory in that sense, but I think…at the end of the day I’m really just proud of who I am and where I come from, and we have never put any focus on that. We’ve just focused on who we are as a couple.”
‘Very sorry and distressed’
After public outrage, Princess Michael of Kent issued an apology for the racist brooch.
A spokesperson for the Royal cousin told TMZ that she was “very sorry and distressed,” and explained that the brooch was a gift she’s worn “many times” without controversy.
A source told the news site that Princess Michael did not mean to insult Markle or Black people. The source added that she learned her lesson and decided to no longer wear the accessory.