July 20, 2025
The declare is tied to Princess Michael of Kent, who allegedly named her black sheep after Venus and Serena Williams.
Writer Aatish Taseer not too long ago revisited claims about informal racism inside the British royal household throughout a short dialog on the “Inform Me About Your Father” podcast, hosted by Matt Phillips. The interview, which was additionally mentioned on the podcast’s Substack, touched on an anecdote Taseer beforehand shared about Princess Michael of Kent, particularly, that she as soon as named two black sheep “Venus” and “Serena,” after American tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams.
Taseer first made this declare in a 2018 Self-importance Honest article, by which he described his experiences whereas relationship Woman Gabriella Windsor, a cousin of King Charles. The latest point out has introduced renewed consideration to his earlier feedback and sparked additional dialogue on-line in regards to the royal household’s relationship with race.
Based on The Every day Beast, whereas Taseer’s feedback on the podcast had been transient, they had been constant together with his earlier written account. British media retailers, together with The Every day Mail, have since picked up on the renewed consideration.
In 2021, following Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle’s public revelation that unnamed members of the royal household had made racist remarks about their son Archie’s pores and skin tone, The Guardian investigated the monarchy’s historical past and uncovered documented proof of institutional racism inside the royal family.
Based on their reporting, which, not like the claims from Prince Harry and the Duchess Markle or Taaser, will not be based mostly on anecdotes or private expertise, however paperwork within the British Nationwide Archives.
These paperwork, per their reporting, depict an occasion of the royal household utilizing its energy and affect to sidestep laws enacted in the UK to forestall discrimination within the office, together with hiring individuals based mostly on the colour of their pores and skin, an exemption often known as “Queen’s consent,” which they famous on the time of their reporting was nonetheless in apply.
The royal household took exception with the newspaper’s use of conversations between the Queen’s chief monetary officer, James Callaghan, and numerous civil servants in 1968, however issued no official apology for enacting “Queen’s consent” in a press release they issued after the bombshell report was printed.
“The Royal Family and the Sovereign adjust to the provisions of the Equality Act, in precept and in apply,” the palace advised CNN in a press release. “That is mirrored within the variety, inclusion, and dignity at work insurance policies, procedures and practices inside the Royal Family.”
Regardless of this, Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black research at Birmingham Metropolis College, famous on the time that the story printed by The Guardian was unlikely to shift the bulk opinion of the royal household.
“These debates will not be about rational pondering or proof. Folks will most likely put it into the context of it being historic and of its time,” Andrews advised CNN. “The royal household has a horrible report on race, however no incident has radically modified pondering earlier than, so why would it not now?”
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