The Queen is realizing there may need to be someone advising the British royal family on race after the allegations that were at the center of the Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry earlier this month, according to multiple reports.
Per The Daily Mail, Buckingham Palace is expected to hire a “diversity czar” to right the floundering royal ship. Queen Elizabeth is said to have realized that more needs to be done after Meghan alleged that the royals had been unwelcoming and racist in their dealings with her, backed up by her husband Harry, the queen’s grandson.
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One of the more stunning allegations was that an unidentified royal questioned what color their first child, Archie’s complexion would be. The former royal couple is expecting their second child, a girl, later this year.
The Daily Mail says they have seen a report that outlines some action items and cites a ‘royal source’ in saying, “This is an issue which has been taken very seriously across the Households. We have the policies, procedures and programmes in place, but we haven’t seen the progress we would like and accept more needs to be done. We can always improve.”
The source concluded by saying, ‘We are not afraid to look at new ways of approaching it. The work to do this has been underway for some time now and comes with the full support of the family.”
As the royal family and the combined royal staff of Clarence House, Kensington Palace, and Buckingham Palace gather to figure things out, The Daily Mail suggested that they will use their existing charitable relationships and patronages to figure out some solutions.
Not since Harry’s mother Princess Diana’s death has the Queen been held accountable to public opinion in such a transparent way, say royal watchers, according to The Daily Mail. The 94-year-old monarch has held the throne for 69 years and, according to the Guinness Book of World Records is the longest-reigning queen in the world, the longest-reigning living monarch, and the richest queen. She surpassed her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, as the oldest British queen in history.
Despite those accomplishments, Meghan and Harry’s revelations rocked the family, further dividing Harry and his brother, Prince William, and his father Prince Charles, both of whom are future kings. Charles is next in line upon his mother’s death, then William. Though they, along with the official royal mind trust have reportedly acknowledged that they could do more on race, it has not healed the rift with Harry and his family.
As reported by theGrio, Harry had a post-interview conversation with his brother and father that Gayle King characterized as ‘not productive.’
King revealed members of the British royal family have had conversations regarding the tell-all after troubling information was shared. She reached out to Prince Harry and learned of the conversations — possibly the first the men had spoken since the Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A Primetime Special aired.
“Harry has talked to his brother and he has talked to his father, too,” she said after confirming a weekend post-interview phone call. “The word I was given was those conversations were not productive. But they are glad that they have at least started a conversation.”
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She continued, “I think what is still upsetting to them is that the Palace keeps saying they want to work it out privately but yet they release these false stories that are coming out that are very disparaging against Meghan still. No one in the royal family has talked to Meghan yet or at this particular time. And I think it’s frustrating for them to see that it’s a racial conversation about the royal family when all they wanted all along was for the royals to intervene and tell the press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant.”
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