To think that if the only black adult in your family says they have experienced racism...

[Overcastcloudy]

... it's counterproductive to send a white man out to say, We're very much not racist?

That just is never going to end well. Ask Ian Murray how it worked out for him.

I couldn't care much either way about the Royal Family. Just baffled at the headline of William saying this.

@DebbieGetsTheJobDone

As a black woman she really, REALLY should have known what she was getting into

that's a such a beautiful example of victim blaming.

yep, repugnant comment. Those 'black women'....they ought to know their place, is that it?

I think the point is that whatever was said, the member of the RF who said it, probably did not perceive it as racist, but Meghan obviously did.
As a white person, with a D-in-Law who has a dark skin, and who I love dearly, I have observed low level racism from others, which I would probably not have noticed before. (obviously not because I am white) The point being that I now notice racism where I may not have seen it earlier.
The real question is, as this was apprently said to Prince Harry, why did he repeat it to Meghan and not confront the person directly?
My conclusion would be, either he himself did not see it as racist, or he retold it to Meghan, with the intention of causing distress, and creating discord.
And we have to assume the question over skin colour was retold in the same way as told to Harry

PW's brother and sister-in-law got 2 uninterrupted hours to air their views in public. He'd have to be a saint or a mug not to defend himself when asked.

There was literally no other way to respond anyway. Had he ignored it, (having already answered the first question) the headline would be: "William's Silence an Admission of Guilt??" He can't win!

[quote cinammonbuns]@Tzigane the media treatment would be worse not better. At least she somewhat looks the part, ( I am obviously not saying she didn’t experience racism - she did but I don’t think it would’ve been better if she had darker skin tbh. Look at the way the media treat Serena Williams and she’s an athlete not married into the RF.[/quote]
I'm not saying the treatment would have been better - it would have been even more vitriolic - but I think it would have been more obviously racist. Therefore more clearly unacceptable and harder to defend.

@Thewordgame

He hasn’t spoken to his brother yet, even though his sister in law revealed she was suicidal at one point???? And experienced clear racism whilst living in the UK. He is a hypocrite if he supports mental health charities when he cannot even be arsed supporting his own brother.

You're assuming that he's telling the truth. If he said yes then there'd be lots of follow up questions about the call and how Meghan and Harry is doing which could inflame the situation. Maybe Harry is avoiding calls from his family? Maybe he'll wait a few days until emotions calm down so they can talk productively?

There are racists in the RF but does it mean that the family is racist? The RF as an institution is found on colonialism and taking resources from ordinary people but perhaps William as an individual doesn't want to be tainted with that label assuming that he is not racist. There's been no sniff of him or Kate doing the equivalent of Harry wearing the Nazi uniform.

All of this could have been stopped if the Royal family had supported the couple and called out the media instead of being cowards.

This. They just acted like the racist slurs against MM were the same as the fat shaming slurs against Fergie and the classist slurs against Kate and the Middletons etc etc. They treated it like the usual good old fashioned misogny the papers spew out constantly against females who marry into the family.
Their attitude was put up and shut up. That has come back to bite them.

I cant be doing with the RF but having watched a few clips of the interview I actually felt sorry for PH. When hes asked about his family etc he drops MM hand and sort of turns away and into himself. It was v sad really. If they are really concerned with their MH I'm not sure that this interview was ever going to be in PH's best MH interests. He looked sort of broken.

For heavens sake. What was the man supposed to do when confronted by journalists. Agree and say yeah, well actually we are all paid up members of the National Front?

There is no evidence whatsoever that the RF are racist other than people like PM of Kent and does she even count?

So sick of people making ridiculous allegations over a he said/she said comment when we have no idea what was said or who said it anyway.

What a shame that our elderly Queen cannot be allowed to spend what remains of her life in peace with her husband who is probably dying because of this spoilt, selfish pair.

People have lost all sense of proportionality. I'm sure Meghan did feel out of her depth. I also think that the Senior Royals are so used and hardened to press batterings that they underestimated how hurt Meghan was by the constant press negativity. People forget that what Meghan has been subjected to was nothing compared to what Camilla went through in the 90s and 00s at the hands of the press.

No one knows who said ‘that’ (don’t need to elaborate) comment. So why should all the royals be tarred with the racist brush??!

We don’t know in what context it was said anyway, never mind by whom. I certainly don’t think it’s fair to expect them (or William in this instance) not to say something back, just because of the colour of his skin! Do you think he shouldn’t comment because he’s white? Despite being placed under scrutiny? Don’t be ridiculous.

Everyone has a right to defend themselves and there’s two sides to every story. Meghans had given her view to the entire world yet William should be silenced because he disagrees with her.

As a black woman she really, REALLY should have known what she was getting into.

I hate this sentiment so much. Firstly, why should she have known what she was getting into? It's not as though she could have read the "How To..." books written by other black royals, or asked for their guidance.

Secondly its bollocks! Some things you can't really know until you're doing it. A day to day example is having a baby. We have been having babies forever. Literally! Yet the shock to the system is real for nearly every woman it happens to.

@Overcastcloudy

Don’t be so bloody ridiculous OP you’re taking his comment out of context.

Don't think I am. The context is that the exact same defence saw the head of the Society of Editors forced out of his job. Yesterday.

More importantly, my point was that all context will be lost anyway - as everyone knows - and this is a bad pic/headline combo.

You think Wills says family is racist is a better headline? Will said only Uncle Andy is racist? Wills says Dad is head of racism for family?

Hair is too straight & skin too light for her to seem anything but white.

Oh god why is always comments about hair? Why is this where mixed race women get fucked over so often?
What if she didn’t straighten her hair, would that make her black enough for you?

Please read up about the issues black women face regarding our hair and the way people speak about it is dripping with racism.

PW should have said 'Well it's true that my brother's done some racist things in the past, but I don't think you should tar our whole family with the actions of one person'

That would have been perfect.

Harry is the only young royal to have been openly racist as far as I know. If you haven't watched the video where he uses a racist word beginning with P to describe an army colleague then google it. It's easy to find. He should have been sacked from the army at that point in my opinion and stripped of his royal title. It wasn't banter. It was a nasty racist jibe for cheap laughs and it was very damaging for the army. The colleague may not have complained but I am sure they were hurt and offended. I certainly was.

They treated it like the usual good old fashioned misogny the papers spew out constantly against females who marry into the family

I don’t understand this comment - Do you think it’s ok to be misogynistic?

All of this could have been stopped if the Royal family had supported the couple and called out the media instead of being cowards.

This. They just acted like the racist slurs against MM were the same as the fat shaming slurs against Fergie and the classist slurs against Kate and the Middletons etc etc. They treated it like the usual good old fashioned misogny the papers spew out constantly against females who marry into the family. Their attitude was put up and shut up. That has come back to bite them.

Agree with both these posts.

He hasn’t spoken to his brother yet, even though his sister in law revealed she was suicidal at one point???? And experienced clear racism whilst living in the UK. He is a hypocrite if he supports mental health charities when he cannot even be arsed supporting his own brother.

Harry , William and Kate were involved in Heads together. Harry has spoken openly about having therapy to deal with his MH issues stemming from Diana's death. According to the interview, (in his own words) he didnt ask for help for his suicidal wife, because he felt ashamed. I dont think either of them come out of this very well. That said I was surprised William said he hadnt spoken to Harry yet.

There's been no sniff of him or Kate doing the equivalent of Harry wearing the Nazi uniform.

I don't know if it was the same party, but there was an incident about William wearing a grass skirt or some such to a 'Natives and Colonials' party.

@Pandamumium

So, as she’s the only black person in the family, who will be able to say it?

RIGHT!

The RF clearly accepted the press treatment of Meghan because it took the focus off Andrew. She is owed massive apologies for this.
I suspect they thought that he could lie low then a lot back into his old life but it's crystal clear that he can't get away with this like other powerful men like Epstein have.

As a black woman she really, REALLY should have known what she was getting into.

And btw to the person who said this, this is racist.

Personally as a person of colour I think this was a little unwise. As Indians we love the royal family. However, Phillip is a typical upper class mail of his generation who has a long track record of saying slightly dodgy things. I would list examples, but mumsnet will delete the post if I do. In my family and my husband's family (he is white), there are lovely relatives who will also hold dodgy views on other races and cultures. So I certainly would not have said this. I would have talked about a strong commitment to making sure we all learn as go forward.

@tinystranger

PW should have said 'Well it's true that my brother's done some racist things in the past, but I don't think you should tar our whole family with the actions of one person'

That would have been perfect.

Harry is the only young royal to have been openly racist as far as I know. If you haven't watched the video where he uses a racist word beginning with P to describe an army colleague then google it. It's easy to find. He should have been sacked from the army at that point in my opinion and stripped of his royal title. It wasn't banter. It was a nasty racist jibe for cheap laughs and it was very damaging for the army. The colleague may not have complained but I am sure they were hurt and offended. I certainly was.

Exactly this. She’s obviously seen past Harry idiotic choices in the past.

Not surprised William hasn't called if indeed that is true. Best to keep those two at arms length I think for the time being.

Maybe he already knew how she was feeling over two years ago. We don't know the full story because Oprah was absolutely shite at interviewing and they were deliberately vague.