Harry said that because of “living within that family”, he attributed the incident to “unconscious bias”.
London:
Prince Harry said on Sunday that he does not view a member of the British royal family inquiring about the skin color of his and his wife Meghan’s unborn child as “racist”.
The prince and Meghan told the story of an unnamed royal repeatedly asking about the skin color of their unborn son Archie in a 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview.
It became one of the most talked-about points of the show, which also accused British tabloids of racist treatment of Meghan, and prompted a rare response from the palace.
Harry denied accusing the royal of racism in an interview broadcast on Britain’s ITV television on Sunday to promote his memoir “Spare”.
“No, I didn’t. The British press said that,” said Harry, adding that Meghan had also not called the royals “racist”.
Harry said that because of “living within that family”, he attributed the incident to “unconscious bias”.
“My understanding is because of my own experience – the difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different,” said the prince.
Her comments came after an embarrassing incident late last year when a royal attendant asked a black British charity chief where she “really came from”.
The elderly nobleman resigned and later apologized in person.
Harry’s wife, Meghan, is of mixed race and told Winfrey that Harry had details of several conversations about how dark their child’s skin would be.
Winfrey asked if they were worried the baby would be “too brown” and Meghan replied: “I haven’t been able to follow why, but that – if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think it’s a Seems like a pretty safe one.”
Meghan said holding the royal responsible would be “very damaging” to them.
The Winfrey interview prompted Buckingham Palace to issue a rare statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, saying “the issues raised, particularly those of race, are concerning”.
“While some memories may be estranged, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed privately by the family,” the statement said.
Prince William told reporters at the time that “we are not a racist family”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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