Prince Harry under fire for denying royal family ‘racism’ claim

He was accused of splitting Harrys.

As if Prince Harry wasn’t embroiled in enough controversy, the Duke of Sussex is now under fire for vehemently denying claims that he called the royals “racist” in his bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021. He made the surprising verbal U-turn while plugging his inflammatory memoir “Spare” during an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby on Sunday.

Bradby addressed the incendiary moment in his recent interview, stating: “You accused members of your family of racism.’”

However, the indignant royal denied the broadcaster’s accusation. “No, I didn’t. The British press said that,” Harry, 38, snapped. “Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?”

“She said there were troubling comments about Archie’s skin color,” Bradby, 55, replied, upon which the Duke of Sussex corrected him: “There was — there was concern about his skin color.”

For the uninitiated, the controversy was initially sparked during 38-year-old Meghan Markle’s controversial interview with Winfrey back in March 2021. Markle had revealed Sunday night that the royal family raised “concerns” with Prince Harry over the potential darkness of their son Archie’s skin.

Winfrey responded by asking the Dutchess, “They were concerned that if he were too brown, that would be a problem? Are you saying that?”

Markle replied, “If that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?”

This somewhat cryptic statement sparked a royal family-wide damage control campaign with Harry brother Prince William declaring that the UK royalty was “not a racist family.” Meanwhile the Queen dubbed the issue raised “concerning” but insisted that “recollections may vary.”

During Harry’s sitdown with Bradby on ITV, the host insisted there was a danger in not naming the person who made the comments, which Harry agreed with.

“Yes, you’re right, the key word is concern, which was troubling,” spluttered the former Prince, who declared earlier in the interview that he’d never share the details of the Archie conversation.

“But you speak to any other couple, mixed race couple around the world, and you will probably find that the white side of the family have either openly discussed it, or secretly discussed, you know, ‘What are the kids gonna look like?’” he added in an apparent platitude. “And that is part of a, you know, bigger conversation that needs to be had.”

Harry then went on to suggest that the Archie comments were actually an example of “unconscious bias” within the royal family.

“The difference between racism and unconscious bias… the two things are different,” the royal explained, seemingly igniting a royal semantics battle. “Once it’s been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that… otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism,” he said.

Needless to say, Bradby and the other hosts were flabbergasted by the Prince’s seemingly roundabout answer. “So much of what he said seemed conflicted and contradictory… he allowed his family to be hung out to dry on an accusation of racism which Harry says now he never said and wasn’t true,” BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond told ITV’s Lorraine of Harry’s purported heel-turn. “That in my view is almost unforgivable.”

“Harry is right to say [they] didn’t use the word ”racist” at any point… [but] Harry didn’t correct the narrative when this whole racism row then started, and not correcting the narrative is something he accused the Royal Family of not doing,” added ITV News’s Royal Editor Chris Ship said on Good Morning Britain.

Harry was also raked over the coals online. “Prince Harry said his family aren’t racist and the conversation about Archie’s skin colour wasn’t racism,” criticized commenter Kayla Adams on Twitter. “He said during the Oprah interview, they never accused the Royal Family of it… the British press did… Tom Bradby looks as baffled as we all feel.”

“Prince Harry denies he and Meghan accused the RF of racism in their oprah interview Is he for real?!” spluttered another critic.

“Prince Harry and Meghan have allowed critics, especially in the US, to use their interview with Oprah Winfrey to accuse the Royal Family of racism for almost two years, wrote Daily Express royal correspondent Richard Palmer. “Now he says they don’t believe the family is racist but saw unconscious bias.”

Despite the backlash, Harry doesn’t appear to be walking back his latest comments. The royal doubled down on his denial while speaking to Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America” this morning.

The former New York Giants star asked, “Do you think in the 21st century there is a place for the British monarchy?”

“I genuinely think that there is. Not the way that it is now,” Harry replied. “I think the same process that I went through with regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them. 

He added, “It’s not racism, but unconscious bias. If not confronted, if not learned and grown from, then that can then move into racism. But there was an enormous missed opportunity with my wife.”

Harry said his wife emphasized the importance of “representation” and that as a “privileged white man” he didn’t really grasp her meaning until now.