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LONDON, March 8: Prime Minister Boris Johnson avoided getting into the clash of British royalty on Monday, praising the queen but avoiding questions about racism and callousness in the palace after an interview by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
The former Hollywood actress, with a black mother and white father, accused the royal family of pushing her to the brink of suicide. In a forceful television interview, she said that someone from the royal household had raised questions about her son’s skin color.
Prime ministers rarely comment on real matters. But reporters repeatedly asked Johnson about it on Monday.
“I have always had the greatest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role she plays in our country and throughout the Commonwealth,” he said.
“As for the rest, all other matters to do with the royal family: I have spent a long time without commenting on royal family matters and I have no intention of departing from that today.”
Harry and Meghan left Britain last year and gave up their royal duties to forge a new life in Los Angeles, winning media production deals. The Oprah Winfrey interview aired Sunday night in the United States and will air Monday night in Britain.
Meghan, 39, said her son Archie, now one year old, had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family “about how dark his skin might be when he is born.” Both she and Harry declined to say who had raised the issue. Winfrey later told CBS that Harry had said he was not Queen Elizabeth or her husband Philip.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
The two-hour broadcast was the most anticipated royal interview since Harry’s late mother Princess Diana shared intimate details of her failed marriage to Prince Charles in 1995, taking a toll on the heir’s reputation.
On Monday, a YouGov poll, based on excerpts from the interview and media coverage, said that 47% of people in Britain thought it was inappropriate for the couple to have given the interview. A third sympathized with them, but a third did not.
Harry also used the interview to lash out at the press, parts of which he has scorned since his mother was killed in an accident in 1997 when his car sped away from pursuing photographers. The Publishers Society of Great Britain said it was not intolerant and would continue to hold the “rich and powerful” accountable. – Reuters
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