AN EXPERT has insisted that the Royal Family are not racist – and Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview claim was “awful”.
Royal photographer Arthur Edwards MBE told Matt Wilkinson, host of The Sun’s new show Royal Exclusive, that the Sussexes’ big interview with Oprah Winfrey was “so one-sided”.
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Harry and Meghan are interviewed by Oprah WinfreyCredit: Reuters
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Kate and Charles pictured together in London, 2022Credit: PA
During the March 2021 interview, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a series of shocking allegations.
The pair sparked a race row by alleging an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about “how dark his (Archie’s) skin might be when he’s born”.
During the Oprah interview, Meghan also said she was prevented from seeking mental health support when she was in crisis.
It’s understood the Royal Family were left deeply upset by the allegations made.
In the days following the interview airing in Britain, Prince William was forced into the unprecedented position of saying the royals “are very much not a racist family”.
He spoke out on an official visit to a school after the Queen had released a carefully-worded statement saying she was “saddened” by the interview but “recollections may vary”.
Omid Scobie’s early Dutch version of his hatchet-job book Endgame, which came out in 2023, suggested Kate Middleton and King Charles were the Royals who made remarks about Archie’s skin colour.
Speaking to Royal Exclusive, Arthur Edwards MBE said: “The first big interview they did with Oprah Winfrey… I think about watching it now and, you know, the thing about Archie and the colour of his skin and I was – I knew they’d be seething.
“I knew that the Queen would be seething, I knew that the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles would be seething, it would be so unfair because one thing they are not is racists. They are not.
“I’ve been with the King all over Africa, all over South America, I’ve never seen – only just engaging and enjoying the company of these people.
“So, you know, in no way would he be like that. He’s just a – it’s just an unfair thing to say.
“But, you know, she delivered it like an actress delivered it, and Oprah responded going ‘wow’.
“It was awful.”
Harry had told Oprah he felt let down by his family – and that he was barely speaking to his brother, describing their relationship as “space”.
He claimed his father Charles stopped taking his calls after Megxit and he was financially cut off by the Royal Family.
He also discussed his relationship with William, saying he loved him “to bits” but he and the future king were “on different paths”.
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Harry and Meghan during episode 6 of their Netflix documentaryCredit: Netflix
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Charles and Harry at the Opening Ceremony of the Invictus Games, 2014Credit: Getty
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William and Kate in Edinburgh, July 5, 2023Credit: AP
William was said to be “very upset” with the interview.
Arthur’s comments come after Princess Diana’s former bodyguard insisted the Royal Family are not racist – and said he never saw a hint of it in the 16 years he worked with them.
Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Ken Wharfe said he was adamant there was no racism with The Firm – despite rumours swirling in recent years.
Omid Scobie’s early Dutch version of his hatchet-job book Endgame suggested Kate and Charles were the two members who made remarks about the skin colour of the pair’s first child.
But Ken, who worked alongside the royals for more than a decade, said this had to be wrong.
He told The Sun: “I worked with every single member of the royal family over 16 years.
“I never saw one hint of racism, the royal family are not racist.
“They represent the very best in my view. I’m not saying they’re perfect but on this particular subject, no they’re not.”
History of Royal Family racism claims
In a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle alleged that an unnamed member of the Royal Family had raised concerns about their son Archie’s skin colour while Meghan was pregnant.
Speaking about her son, who was born in 2019, Meghan claimed there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
The couple refused to name the alleged royal racist but Oprah said she was told it was not the Queen or Prince Philip.
Queen Elizabeth II released a statement almost two days after the chat saying the claims would be taken “very seriously”.
She said allegations that a member of the family raised concerns over the colour of Archie’s skin would be investigated and “addressed privately”
A statement from the palace said: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.
“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.
“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
Prince Harry later went on to say that people shouldn’t be blamed for “unconscious bias”.
Speaking on a podcast with Dax Shepard in May 2021, Harry said “everyone has a bias of sorts”.
But he said “choosing to do nothing” when you realise you have “unconscious bias” is the problem.
Harry told the Armchair Expert podcast: “I thought I knew, having travelled so much and meet so many, such a diverse group as possible, I thought I understood life, especially bearing in mind the countries I was going to were people of colour.
“But then I was really shocked when I started doing therapy and that bubble was burst and I started doing my own work, like a lot of work to uncover and understand unconscious bias.
“And I was like wow, I thought since I screwed up and then did the work, I thought I then knew but I didn’t and I still don’t fully know. It’s a constant working process and every one of us has it.”
Harry told Dax the “world is changing” with a “multi-racial” movement happening driven by young people.
He added: “Unconscious bias, the way I understand it, it’s not something that’s wrong with you, you don’t have to be defensive about it. No one is blaming you, but the moment you realise you have it, what are you going to do about it?
“Because if you choose to do nothing, then you are continuing to fuel the problem, you are heading towards racism.
“Unconscious bias is inherent unfortunately in every single one of us, but it’s important to educate yourself to be more aware of the problems and be part of the solution.”
Omid Scobie’s early Dutch version of his book Endgame suggested Kate and Charles were the two Royals who made remarks about the skin colour of Harry and Meghan’s first child, Archie.
The poisonous claims were pilloried by Royal experts and in the fall out Scobie was blasted for peddling “bulls**t” excuses about how the names were included in the Dutch translation.
The book was released in November 2023.
In the English version Scobie writes: “In the pages of these private letters, two identities were revealed. UK laws prevent me from reporting who they were.”
