Was Prince Harry Really Told Not To Be Overly Sensitive Regarding This Royal Controversy?
The royal family is never short of drama and Prince Harry constantly seems to be at the center of it.
The Duke of Sussex has never been one to hide from the tabloids, and the stories of the prince's personal life only intensified in 2018 when he married American actor Meghan Markle. Then, in 2020, Harry and Meghan shocked the world as they announced their departure as senior members of the royal family and a big move to California. Since then, the couple has become more and more open about their time at Buckingham Palace, sitting down with Oprah Winfrey in March and spilling all the royal secrets.
Of the many bombshell moments to come from the interview, one that stood out from the rest was the allegation that someone in the royal family made comments about the skin color of Prince Harry and Meghan's firstborn Archie. "They didn't want him to be a prince . . . which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn't going to receive security," the actor said (via People). "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."
While Prince Harry refused to further comment on the allegation, fans, insiders, and columnists alike were on a mission to find out who might have made the statement, and in turn, found that Prince Harry was told to calm down.
Prince Charles' comments about Archie's skin color were reportedly out of context
Journalist Christopher Andersen revealed who questioned the skin color of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's firstborn, Archie, in his biography "Brothers and Wives," and the palace wasn't happy about it. According to Andersen, Prince Charles reportedly asked his wife Camilla, "What do you think their children's complexion might be?" While the palace denies the claim, Andersen stood by his reporting telling Newsweek, "Using sources that I completely trust, this traces back to a benign comment by Charles in which like every grandparent he speculates on what their children might look like."
The American journalist went on to defend Prince Charles, claiming the comments were innocent in intent and only became about race once word of the conversation got to Prince Harry. "By the time it got back to Harry the message was quite different," Andersen said. "So Harry, the message he got in response to complaining about this was, 'Well you're just oversensitive. You're just misinterpreting it.'"
While the royal family continues to deny Andersen's report, the journalist told Newsweek that the palace's statement was false. "I think once they finally do look at what I say in the book they will see that this has been misconstrued," the author said. "I think the spin that's been taken on it by certain tabloids is fascinating because in essence it absolves Charles and the royal family from allegations of racism."