Prince Charles sparked the royal family’s row with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by speculating about the skin tone of their future child, a bombshell book claims.
A representative for the Prince of Wales denied the allegations, made in a book by American journalist Christopher Anderson, saying: “This is fiction and not worth further comment.”
Charles is believed to have made the comment when Prince Harry become engaged in 2017, with courtiers allegedly putting a “racist spin” on the remarks before they reached the couple.
The claim that a member of the royal family had expressed concern about the colour of baby Archie’s skin was made during the company’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast in March.
In Andersen’s book, Brothers And Wives: Inside The Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan, he writes the prince said to the Duchess of Cornwall “I wonder what the children will look like?”, the New York Post’s Page Six website reported.
When Camilla replied “Well, absolutely gorgeous, I’m certain,” the book claims Charles went on to say “I mean, what do you think their children’s complexion might be?”
A Clarence House spokesman said “This is fiction and not worth further comment”.
Harry and Meghan accused a member of the royal family – not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – of racism in shocking claims made during their Oprah interview earlier this year.
Meghan said, when she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, the duchess said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”
Pushed by Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”
Harry refused to give further details, adding: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Charles is in Barbados ahead of a historic ceremony which will see the country swear in its first president and formally end the Queen’s role as its head of state.
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