A member of the British royal family has stepped down after making “unacceptable and deeply regrettable” comments about race and nationality to a woman at a grand reception at Buckingham Palace, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Ngozi Fulani, who was born in Britain and works for a domestic violence support group, wrote on Twitter that the royal aide had repeatedly asked him: “What part of Africa are you from?” her when she attended an event hosted by King Charles’s wife, Camilla, the queen consort, on Tuesday.
“We take this incident extremely seriously and have immediately investigated to establish all details. In this case, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in a statement.
The incident is the latest to embroil the royal family in accusations of racism, after Charles’s youngest son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan made the allegations in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
Meghan, in the interview, said that an anonymous family member had asked, before her son Archie was born, how dark his skin could be.
The accusation clearly angered the monarchy, which promised that any such problem would be treated very seriously, prompting Harry’s older brother, Prince William, the heir to the throne, to comment days later: “We are not a family at all. racist”.
Buckingham Palace said the person involved in the latest incident, whom Fulani refers to as Lady SH, would like to apologize for the damage caused and had stepped down from her honorary position with immediate effect.
The exchange occurred at a violence against women and girls reception at the palace, where guests included Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, Belgium’s Queen Mathilde and Jordan’s Queen Rania.
In her account posted on Twitter, Fulani, who works for Sistah Space, a group that provides support to women of African and Caribbean descent who have been affected by abuse, said that approximately 10 minutes after her arrival, the assistant approached her. and moved her hair. to see her nameplate.
After being asked several times where in Africa she was from, Fulani said she replied: “I was born here and I am British.”
The helper replied: “No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?”
Last year, a senior royal source said Buckingham Palace had not done enough for diversity, although it has made efforts to increase the number of staff from ethnic minorities.
“We have communicated with Ngozi Fulani on this matter and we are inviting her to discuss all elements of her experience in person if she wishes,” the palace spokesman said.
“All members of the Home are reminded of the diversity and inclusion policies that they must respect at all times.”
