He was accused of slicing Harrys in half.
As if Prince Harry wasn’t already engaged in enough scandal, the Duke Of Sussex is now under fire for angrily disputing accusations that he referred to the royal family as “racist” in his explosive 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. During an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby on Sunday, he made the unexpected linguistic about-face while promoting his controversial memoir “Spare.”
In a subsequent interview, Bradby addressed the explosive incident by asking, “You accused members of your family of racism?”
However, the outraged royal refuted the charge made by the network. “No I didn’t. “The British press reported it,” Harry, 38, exploded. “Did Meghan ever say they are racist?”
Bradby, 55, responded, “She said there were disturbing comments about Archie’s skin color,” to which the Duke of Sussex corrected him, “There was – there was concern regarding his skin color.”
Prince Harry is receiving criticism for refuting accusations that he called the royal family “racist” in his explosive 2021 interview with Oprah.
ITV
The debate was initially triggered by Meghan Markle’s contentious interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, for those unaware. Markle disclosed on Sunday evening that the royal family had expressed “concerns” to Prince Harry about the possible color of their son Archie’s skin.
Winfrey answered by questioning the Dutchess, “Were they worried that if he were too brown, it would be a problem? Are you saying that?”
Markle retorted, “If that’s the assumption you’re making, I’d say it’s a pretty safe one, which was incredibly difficult to comprehend, right?”
This somewhat ambiguous statement prompted a royal family-wide damage control exercise, with Prince William declaring that the British royal family was not racist. In the meanwhile, the Queen referred to the problem as “concerning” but stressed that “recollections may differ.”
During an appearance with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, appeared alongside each other.
AP
During Harry’s interview with Bradby on ITV, the host urged that not naming the individual who made the comments posed a risk, to which Harry agreed.
“Yes, you’re right, the key word is concern, which was troubling,” sputtered the former prince, who had stated earlier in the interview that he would never reveal the chat with Archie.
“However, if you speak to any other mixed-race couple in the world, you will likely find that the white side of the family has either openly or secretly discussed, you know, ‘What are the children going to look like?’” he said in a somewhat trite statement. “This is part of a larger conversation that needs to be had,” the speaker continued.
Then, Harry suggested that the Archie comments were an instance of “unconscious bias” among the royal family.
“There is a distinction between racism and unconscious bias,” the prince explained, possibly sparking a royal semantics battle. “Once it has been recognized or brought to your attention as a person or institution that you have unconscious prejudice, you have the chance to learn and grow from that… if not, unconscious bias becomes racism,” he explained.
Obviously, Bradby and the other hosts were stunned by the Prince’s rather indirect response. “So much of what he said sounded conflicting and ambiguous… “He allowed his family to be hung out to dry over an accusation of racism that Harry now claims he never made and was false,” BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond said on ITV’s Lorraine. That, in my opinion, is nearly unacceptable.
“Harry is correct in stating [they] never used the word ‘racist’… Harry did not alter the narrative when the entire racism controversy began, and he accused the Royal Family of not doing so,” ITV News’ Royal Editor Chris Ship stated on Good Morning Britain.
Harry was also ridiculed on the Internet. “Prince Harry stated that his family is not racist, and the conversation about Archie’s skin tone was not racist,” tweeted Kayla Adams. “He stated during his interview with Oprah that they never accused the Royal Family of it, but the British press did.” Tom Bradby appears as perplexed as we all do.”
“Prince Harry denies that he and Meghan accused the RF of racism on Oprah,” “Is he serious?” An further critic snorted.
“Prince Harry and Meghan have allowed critics, particularly in the United States, to use their interview with Oprah Winfrey to accuse the Royal Family of racism for nearly two years,” said Richard Palmer, a royal correspondent for the Daily Express. Now he asserts that they do not believe the family to be racist, but did observe unconscious bias.
Harry does not seem to be retracting his statements despite the uproar. This morning, while chatting with Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America,” the prince reiterated his denial.
Former New York Giants quarterback asked. “Do you believe the British monarchy has a place in the 21st century?”
“I sincerely believe there is. “Not as it currently stands,” Harry said. “I believe that going through the same process that I did in regards to my own unconscious bias would be incredibly beneficial for them.”
“It’s not racism, but unconscious bias,” he stressed. If it is not faced, if it is not learned from and evolved from, then it might evolve into racism. But there was a tremendous potential lost with my wife.”
Harry stated that his wife stressed the significance of “representation” and that, as a “privileged white man,” he did not fully see her meaning until now.
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