Prince William: Royals are 'very much not a racist family'

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The future king denied the royals were racist yesterday after his younger brother Harry and wife Meghan said one unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son Archie’s skin might be. The bombshell claims were made during a tell-all interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey this week, which threatened to plunge the monarchy into its biggest crisis since William and Harry’s mother Princess Diana gave her own controversial interview in 1995. ITV royal reporter Chris Ship warned the Duke of Cambridge’s rare response to the backlash showed the royals know they need to repair their damaged reputation.

He wrote on Twitter: “It’s unprecedented for a senior royal to speak in this way.

“And shows the fight they now have on their hands to repair their reputation following Meghan and Harry’s explosive claims.

“Remember the Queen’s statement said ‘recollections may vary’.”

On a visit to a school in east London, William said he had not talked to Harry since the interview was aired.

He said: “I haven’t spoken to him yet but I will do.”

When asked by a reporter if the Royal Family was racist, William added: “We’re very much not a racist family.”

The Royal Family has faced widespread backlash over the past few days after Meghan said that while she was pregnant with Archie there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

Oprah later clarified that Harry had said it was not the Queen or her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip, who has been in the hospital for three weeks.

Harry said during the interview: “That conversation, I’m never going to share.

“But at the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked.”

Harry also criticised his family for failed to call out “colonial undertones” in news articles about his wife.

He said: “That hurts, but I also am acutely aware of where my family stand and how scared they are of the tabloids turning on them.”

Harry added his father Prince Charles had let him down and that he had felt trapped in the Firm.

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He said: “I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like.

“I will always love him, but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened.

“And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.”

William was also mentioned during the two hour interview as Harry revealed there was “space” in their relationship.

He said: “Much will continue to be said about that … as I said before, you know, I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together and we have a shared experience.

“But we’re on different paths.”

On Tuesday, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of the Queen, in which she said the family were saddened by how challenging the couple had found the last few years.

The palace added issues of race were concerning and would be treated very seriously, but also stated “some recollections may vary”.

The statement 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.”

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