Allegations of racism within the monarchy have hit the headlines once again following a royal aide allegedly asking a black British visitor at Buckingham Palace: "What part of Africa are you from?"
Ngozi Fulani, who runs a black women's domestic abuse charity, claims she was questioned about her ethnicity by Lady Susan Hussey.
The 83-year-old was one of the late Queen's most trusted aides and is Prince William's godmother.
An investigation has been launched and the palace said they were "unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments". She has now resigned from her honorary role as Lady of the Household.
It comes just over a year-and-a-half after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who quit as senior working royals and moved to the US, painted the institution as uncaring and raised an allegation of racism.
The couple alleged in their Oprah Winfrey interview that a member of the Royal family – not the late Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh – made a racist comment about their son. They also told how the duchess had suicidal thoughts but she claimed her approaches to the monarchy for help were turned down.
Winfrey was left open-mouthed when the duchess – the first mixed-race member of the modern monarchy – said a fellow royal was worried about how dark their son Archie's skin tone might be before he was born.
Harry is penning his own tell-all memoir and has promised to write an "accurate and wholly truthful" account of his life, and the couple’s Netflix docuseries which Meghan dubbed as telling "our story" is reported to be airing next week on December 8.
The duke admitted in the past that his privileged upbringing as a member of the royal family meant he had no understanding of unconscious racial bias.
Harry said it took him many years – and the experience of "living" in wife Meghan’s shoes – to recognise the issue.
The duke was accused of racism himself in the past. He was widely condemned in 2009 after being caught on film calling a former Army colleague "our little P*** friend".
At the time Clarence House said: "Prince Harry has said sorry for his remarks and has been subjected to normal Army disciplinary procedures. The matter is now closed.”
Two days after the Oprah interview in March 2021, Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the Queen.
It said the issues raised "particularly that of race" were "concerning", adding: "While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately."
Prince William later defended the monarchy, saying: "We’re very much not a racist family."
In the wake of the allegations, the Palace began publishing figures on its levels of ethnic minority staff for the first time in 2021, with the figure at 8.5 per cent.
But royal accounts this June showed that Buckingham Palace has yet to hit its diversity target, with its proportion of ethnic minority staff standing at just 9.6 per cent, having set a goal of 10 per cent for 2022.
Clarence House had 10.6 per cent of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds, while Kensington Palace had 13.6 per cent.
A senior royal source said at the time the Queen and the Windsors had embraced the diversity of the nation, and the bid to improve diversity within the Palace workforce was coming from across the royal family.
But the source said a "listening exercise" carried out with Palace employees to examine their experiences has shown that "in building a more inclusive culture, that we should more clearly recognise the strength of our communities, very much in the differences that we all bring".
In the UK, around 18 per cent of the population is from a minority ethnic background, according to the 2021 Census data.
In June this year, William warned that black men and women were still facing racism and discrimination in modern-day Britain.
He was speaking as he and wife Kate attended the unveiling of a national monument at London’s Waterloo Station to celebrate the dreams and courage of the Windrush generation who came to help Britain rebuild after the Second World War.
In 2017, Princess Michael of Kent apologised for wearing what was described as "racially insensitive" jewellery when she sported a blackamoor brooch at a Palace Christmas lunch attended by Meghan.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the royal said that the brooch was a gift she had worn "many times before.”
“Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence,” the statement added.
In 1986 on a visit to China, the Duke of Edinburgh told British student: "If you stay here much longer you’ll all be slitty-eyed", and in 2002, Philip asked an aboriginal entrepreneur in Australia "Do you still throw spears at each other".
