‘LITTLE ACCOUNTABILITY’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Think the Queen Didn’t ‘Fully Own’ Royal Racism Row

Harry and Meghan’s friends say they were underwhelmed by the queen’s equivocal response to their allegations of racism, and the lack of accountability has made moving on difficult.

Tensions between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the royal family were ratcheted up today after friends of the couple were reported as saying the couple think the queen did not take “full ownership” of the bombshell allegation they made on their interview with Oprah Winfrey that they were asked racist questions about their children’s likely skin color.

The allegation was reportedly made in an extract of a new chapter of the soon-to-be reissued book Finding Freedom, published in People magazine. People has not uploaded the extract to its website although it has published an ancillary article, but the Daily Mail has reported on the content of the extract.

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The extract in People magazine reportedly sees authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand write: “The queen’s ‘recollections may vary’ comment did not go unnoticed by the couple, who, a close source said, were ‘not surprised’ that full ownership was not taken. ‘Months later and little accountability has been taken,’ a pal of Meghan added. ‘How can you move forward with that?’”

The comment is a reference to the queen’s official statement in response to the Oprah interview.

She said then: “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.”

In an accompanying interview with People, Scobie said that Harry and Meghan are likely to aim to have a higher profile in the months ahead. He said, “They seem to be existing in a different place, and that place is much healthier…Meghan famously spoke about that it was not enough to survive—we are now in the thrive chapter.”

A clue as to how the couple intend to conduct their public lives was given Tuesday, when they published a lengthy statement on their website bemoaning the state of the world.

The statement read: “The world is exceptionally fragile right now. As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless. As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, and the threat of it worsening after last weekend’s earthquake, we are left heartbroken. And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.

“When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realize it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we, as a people, are being conditioned to accept it. It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action—together.

“To start, we encourage you to join us in supporting a number of organizations doing critical work. We also urge those in positions of global influence to rapidly advance the humanitarian dialogues that are expected to take place this fall at multilateral gatherings such as the U.N. General Assembly and the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

“As an international community, it is the decisions we make now — to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet — that will prove our humanity.”

The new edition of the book is to be published August 31, and the publishers HarperCollins have previously said it would cover the couple’s “heartbreak” over Prince Philip’s death and “Meghan’s emotional healing journey from losing a child to the birth of their daughter.”

It was announced last month that Harry is to publish a “deeply personal” memoir next year.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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