In newly-found documents, it is revealed that Queen Elizabeth II's top advisers informed civil servants that 'coloured immigrants or foreigners' were not eligible for office jobs in the British royal household.
- Jun 4, 2021
AceShowbiz - Buckingham Palace used to be so white. The palace banned hiring "coloured immigrants or foreigners" for office jobs in the British royal household until at least the late 1960s, according to a new report by The Guardian newspaper on Thursday, June 3.
In newly-found documents from Britain's National Archives, it was revealed that Queen Elizabeth II's top advisers informed civil servants that "it was not, in fact, the practice to appoint" minorities to clerical roles and other office jobs. However, it was stated that people from minorities could work as domestic servants.
While it remains unclear when the racist rule ended, the queen and her household were exempt from laws which prevented race and sex discrimination in the 1970s by using an arcane parliamentary mechanism known as "crown consent."
When asked for comments on the report, Buckingham Palace allegedly declined to talk about the practice or to reveal when or why it was stopped. The palace, however, noted that that people from ethnic minority backgrounds were employed in the 1990s. Meanwhile, the palace refused to answer any questions about banning people of color, reasoning that records on racial backgrounds were not kept before then.
"Claims based on a second-hand account of conversations from over 50 years ago should not be used to draw or infer conclusions about modern day events or operations," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told E! News. "The principles of Crown Application and Crown Consent are long established and widely known."
Back in March during a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle opened up about Meghan experiencing racism within the royal family. The Duchess of Sussex said some people in the palace were concerned "about how dark [their son Archie's] skin might be when he's born."
In response to the claims, the Buckingham Palace issued a statement that read, "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. 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. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members." Prince William doubled down on the statement as he defended his family, saying they are "very much not" racist.
