Question Time: Fiona tells Steve Reed 'answer that question'

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Steve Reed was asked on BBC Question Time whether he believes the Royal Family is racist in light of the Meghan Markle revelations that an unnamed Royal Family member had concerns over baby Archie’s skin tone. The Labour Shadow Minister attempted to divert around the question but he was quickly picked up by host Fiona Bruce who directed him back to the original point. Mr Reed bluntly said he did not want to answer the question but took the time to draw comparisons to the Royal Family and wider society. 

A BBC Question Time audience member asked whether the panel believed the Royal Family was racist or not. 

Mr Reed was invited first to answer and said: “Listening to the interview with Oprah Winfrey and what’s happened since it’s just a great sadness that this has happened to this family. 

“And I thought the statement of the palace put out a couple of days later struck exactly the right tone. 

“When they said that there had been deeply concerning issues raised, that’s for sure, but that they wanted the space and privacy to deal with this as a family.”

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Fiona Bruce then posed to Mr Reed if he agreed with his Labour colleagues that the racism allegations should be investigated in the same way the bullying allegations against Meghan Markle are. 

Mr Reed skirted around the question and added: “The institution of the monarchy is an incredibly important institution for our country. 

“But they are also people and a family and I think they need the privacy personally to deal with it as a family but I don’t think we should glide over the very serious issues that were raised.”

But Ms Bruce did not let the Labour MP off so easily and brought the conversation back to the original question of whether the Royal Family is racist. 

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Mr Reed said he was trying to answer it in a “long way” but a frustrated Ms Bruce said: “It is a bit long Steve, do you want to go answer that question?”

The Croydon North politician bluntly replied: “No I don’t.

“Because I think the Royal Family is a family it’s comprised of people who like the rest of us are part of this society. 

“And actually there is racism in our society and it’s deeply ingrained. 

“But there is also a lack of respect for people who are experiencing mental ill-health, and that is also deeply ingrained so the issues that are being raised in this instance are issues that we as a society need to tackle.”

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Meghan Markle was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and disclosed her life in the Royal Family to the chatshow star. 

Among allegations of mental health suffering and suicide contemplations, the Duchess of Sussex claims an unnamed member of the Royal Family had “concerns” over the skin tone of unborn baby Archie. 

Oprah took to the airwaves the following day to clarify that Meghan was not referring to the Queen or Prince Philip in her allegations. 

Prince Charles was seen at a royal engagement at a pop-up Covid clinic a few days later and was asked his opinions of the interview. 

The heir was quickly ushered away before he could answer but was seen chuckling at the question. 

Prince William and Kate also conducted a royal engagement where he was asked if the Royal Family were racist. 

The royal replied: “We’re very much not a racist family.”

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