One of the most intriguing questions still lingering from Meghan Markle’s and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey is who in the royal family was concerned about whether the couple might have a dark-skinned baby.
Markle dropped the bombshell Sunday night in a broad-ranging interview, during which she also disclosed that the royal family chose not to give her son the title of prince, though exceptions to protocol were made for the queen’s other great-grandchildren.
“In the months when I was pregnant … we have in tandem the conversation of he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Markle said.
It is unlikely the thought ever crossed Harry or Markle’s mind. Archie would simply be their son, but to someone in the royal family, he would be their Black son.
Seemingly, Markle always tried to exist as if she were colorless. In an essay published in Elle magazine in 2015, she said she dreaded the inevitable question she was always asked, “What are you?”
“My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half Black and half white,” she would answer.
She knew they wanted her to be more specific, but she could never bring herself to declare a race, which in her mind, would be like choosing between her parents. She liked being “ethnically ambiguous.” She enjoyed living in a “gray area.”
In reality, that gray area only existed in her mind. When she became a royal, the world forced her to declare her Blackness.
She wasn’t just the Duchess of Sussex. She was the Black duchess. That’s how the royal family saw her and how the world defined her.
It was no surprise that some of her in-laws worried about how Black her son would appear. …
For many interracial couples, the white family’s concern about a baby’s skin tone isn’t new. While some relatives are fine with a dark-skinned baby, those who aren’t entirely comfortable with the interracial union to begin with tend to worry more about having a grandchild or a niece or nephew who doesn’t look like the rest of the family.
The palace issued a statement Tuesday on behalf of the queen, saying “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
None of this should come as a surprise to the royal family. They sat by and watched silently as the racism escalated to the point that it forced the couple to leave the country.
As much as the royals try to portray themselves as racially tolerant and open to diversity, they are not. They never have been. It is impossible to fully understand the significant role race plays in society when you live inside a bubble.
In that regard, Buckingham Palace is no different from any segregated neighborhood in the United States where everyone looks the same. People who rarely, if ever, come into contact with others who are racially, ethnically or culturally different cannot be expected to fully understand race or racism.
Inviting Barack Obama, America’s first African American president, to Buckingham Palace was a nice gesture. But it’s like inviting your one Black friend to join your family for Thanksgiving dinner once a year.
