Photo: Lorna Roberts / Shutterstock
Bearing witness to racism, and not speaking up, makes you racist as well.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Nov 29, 2021
Since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s explosive interview with Oprah, in which Markle revealed that someone in the British Royal Family had worried about Archie’s skin color being too dark, many have speculated on who, exactly, made the racist commentary.
Like the rest of the world, I'm also curious about the offending Royal family member. We know it wasn’t Prince Harry’s grandparents, Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip, as Oprah put that rumor to rest, following the interview.
Now, a new book by long-time royal writer Christopher Andersen claims to identify the Royal who allegedly made the explosive comment.
Which Royal asked about Archie's skin tone?
According to Andersen, Prince Charles mused over his future grandson's skin tone in a conversation with Camila that was overheard by Royal advisors.
In the book, “Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan,” Andersen claims that Prince Harry's father asked, “What do you suppose their children’s complexion might be?”
The book says the comment was twisted and retold to Harry and Markle as something more sinister.
Prince Charles has denied the claims via a spokesperson. However, the preoccupation over who said what about the Royal baby misses a crucial point.
It doesn't matter who exactly in the Royal family had that problematic conversation about Archie — the entire family is still complicit in allowing the British tabloids to launch racist attacks on Meghan Markle throughout the couple's entire relationship.
It’s no secret Black women in this country — and all over the world — suffer and are the least protected minority group. In Markle’s case, she thought she was being protected by the family she had married into, a family that had, in fact, promised her protection. Instead, they allowed the press to write racist articles about her. They allowed the press to paint Markle in a horrible light and didn’t do anything to correct reported falsehoods.
And not only that but when Markle struggled with her mental health, at one point claiming to have had suicidal thoughts, she claims the Institution turned their back on her, instead of allowing her to receive the help she needed.
The comments made about Megan Markle and Prince Harry’s child (Archie), before he was even born, shouldn’t be that surprising. Let's remember this is a monarchy that has been around for centuries.
We’re talking about the first colonizers, the first imperialists. The UK, and the monarchy, are no strangers to racism. They’ve been perpetuating hate against Black people since the Atlantic slave trade.
It doesn't matter if you're not the individual actually saying racist things towards Black people. If you bear witness to such horrendous comments or don't defend the Black person being subjected to racist ideologies, you're complicit in racism.
It’s the same thing as being the getaway driver to a bank robbery. You might not have gone in and held the entire bank at gunpoint, but you were in the driver’s seat, helping the criminals escape.
After the explosive Oprah interview, Prince William, during a visit to an East London school earlier today, broke his silence on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
After being asked if the Royal Family is racist, Prince William replied, “We are very much not a racist family.”
Obviously, it's in Prince William's best interest to deny the claims, as the future King of England.
But unfortunately, the Royal Family is, in fact, racist.
It may have been Markle’s light skin tone that allowed her to marry into that family — imagine if she had been a darker-skinned Black woman — but it was ultimately their racism and bigotry that drove her out.
If the Royal Family can’t see that, then their blindness and ignorance of reality are far more dangerous than their discrimination.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Chicago. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.