Buckingham Palace is facing accusations of “institutional racism” after the late Queen’s lady-in-waiting challenged a prominent black advocate for survivors of domestic abuse on where she “really came from”.
Lady Susan Hussey, the Prince of Wales’s godmother, resigned from the household and apologised after making the “unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments” to Ngozi Fulani, chief executive of Sistah Space, at a royal reception on Tuesday.
Fulani shared a rundown of the conversation, which took place at a major gathering hosted by the Queen Consort to highlight violence against women and girls, on social media, describing it as a “violation” and saying the experience will “never leave me”.
“This is bigger than one individual. It’s institutional racism,” she later told The Independent.
She said the incident showed “nothing has changed”, adding: “There are so many things to consider before you can even react to the pain of racism. Can you imagine? I’m just processing the incident.”
She called on the royal household to implement cultural competency and anti-racism training, which Sistah Space delivers.
The Palace moved swiftly to respond to Ms Fulani’s tweets on Wednesday morning, saying it took the incident “extremely seriously” and had investigated immediately.
Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women’s Equality Party, has told Sky News that Meghan Markle’s claims of racism within the royal household have been “validated”.
You can watch the full interview below:
Related: Bank’s chief economist says Brexit played a part in soaring inflation
