Oprah Interview Exposes Prince Harry’s Hypocrisy On Racism, Expert Says

Perhaps the most damning accusations made by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in their conversation with Oprah Winfrey were those related to the blatant racism and micro-assaults Meghan faced from the moment the couple began dating.

During the candid interview, the couple revealed several shocking cases, including concerns that arose prior to the birth of their son Archie about how dark his skin would be, involving other members of the royal family and British tabloids.

“When the couple began dating, some expected a period of real renewal to begin,” wrote Central Queensland University history professor Benjamin T. Jones for The Conversation last week.

“Meghan, who has an African-American mother and a white father, was presented as a symbol of the modern and inclusive monarchy. These hopes were gradually dashed by consistently negative media coverage, including unfavorable comparisons to Meghan’s sister-in-law, Kate. Middleton , the Duchess of Cambridge.

An individual-level tragic story, he added, “also points to a history of structural racism within the monarchy. Harry noted that the press attacks on his wife had ‘colonial undertones’, which the royal family refused to address. they are part of a longer history of colonialism and racism in which the Windsors are entangled. “

While many have praised the couple for shedding light on the issue, one expert has claimed that Harry easily aired bits of his family’s dirty laundry without properly acknowledging his own.

The allegations made by the Sussexes, said British broadcaster and social commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti, who focuses on race relations and British society, “are serious and should be seriously questioned and investigated.”

But, he said, “Oprah Winfrey failed to extract any firm or specific accusations from the couple, and hardly challenged their accusations against the royal family.”

“She did not question the couple about Prince Harry’s well-documented racism in the past, and how she could defend or contextualize it today,” Sacerdoti added.

“Let’s not forget that he dressed up as a Nazi for a party and referred to an army colleague as a ‘P * ki’. Any proper discussion of racism in his family would surely have to include these incidents as well.”

NAZI COSTUME PARTY SCANDAL

The best known of the two incidents mentioned by Sacerdoti is the moment in January 2005 when images of a 20-year-old Harry appeared dressed in a Nazi uniform and armband.

Criticism from Jewish and political groups was swift, and the leader of the main British opposition Conservative party at the time, Michael Howard, said “a lot of people will be disappointed to see that photograph and it will cause a lot of offense.”

“I think it would be appropriate for him to tell us how contrite he is,” Howard, who is Jewish, told the New York Times days after the scandal.

The founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, Rabbi Marvin Hier, urged the prince to travel to Poland and visit the Auschwitz concentration camp, where “he would see the results of the hated symbol that he so foolishly and blatantly chose to wear.”

Harry quickly apologized in a statement, saying that he was “very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone.”

“It was a poor wardrobe choice and I apologize.”

CALLING PARTNER SOLDIER ‘OUR LITTLE FRIEND P * KI’

In 2009, footage surfaced recorded by Harry himself at the age of 21 of him making a racist comment about an Asian soldier, calling him “our little friend P * ki.”

Another video showed him describing another cadet officer as a “raghead.”

At the time, a controversy arose over his use of the term, with critics noting that other soldiers would be asked to resign immediately, while Harry simply had to apologize and was allowed to keep his post.

A spokesman for St. James’s Palace said “Prince Harry fully understands how offensive this term can be and is very sorry for any offense his words may cause.”

“However, on this occasion, three years ago, Prince Harry used the term without malice and as a nickname for a very popular member of his platoon,” the spokesman added.

“There is no doubt that Prince Harry in some way sought to insult his friend. Prince Harry used the term ‘raghead’ to refer to the Taliban or Iraqi insurgents.”