Allegations of Racism Within the British Monarchy

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: But I want to play this bit from LBC, one of the radio stations here, and it’s now quite well known because many in the black community have pointed it out as a very either conscious or unconscious bias towards racism. Let’s just play this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, you may not agree, but I believe that Meghan Markle has never been fully accepted because of her skin color. Let’s be honest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God, that one again, that one again.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you look at her — Michael, do you look at her and see a black woman? Because I don’t. I see a very attractive — I see a very attractive woman. It has never occurred to me that — I never look at her and think, gosh, she’s black, in the way you look at Oprah Winfrey, you would be in no doubt.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So, Bonnie, break that down for us.

(LAUGHTER)

BONNIE GREER, PLAYWRIGHT: Please let me. First of all, that’s a well-known commentator here. It sounds like Andrew Pierce. And there’s a couple of things going on there. First of all, of course she’s not black because she’s attractive. He doesn’t think that’s racist And then the other one is talking about, well, she’s not accepted. And he says — there’s so many tropes floating past, and they’re unconscious, they’re deeply unconscious, and it’s harming the country’s standing, and it’s harming the black community here very, very deeply. It’s almost like one of these movies where you’re beating your hand against this wall while you’re being driven away in a truck. They’re not listening to you. They don’t hear you. And in listening to Sir Peter, who is a very fine guy, that’s an example of it. They can’t hear it. And partly it’s because of the royal family is, by one stretch, powerful, and they’re also, as Harry said last time or implied, they’re prisoners. They’re prisoners are the feeling of this country about this royal family and all royal families, because there’s a deep resentment as well. And they’re also prisoners of the tabloid press, who basically decree they are what they are. We talking about “The Daily Mail” and MailOnline. Piers Morgan on his breakfast television show at 6:30 in the morning is a real Meghan hater. So, it sort of envelops this country, while at the same time they love and respect their royal family. I mean, there was a rumor last night that Meghan and Harry had said something horrible about the queen. Well, they didn’t do that. But people were suddenly screaming. And then you have got the other side want the monarchy to go, just completely go. So, abolish the monarchy was trending. And it’s a deep emotional — deep emotional fight and struggle in — deep inside the British. And it’s very hard to explain to people outside, but it’s very deep.