The Queen and the British royal family all support the Black Lives Matter movement, a prominent royal representative has shared.
Sir Ken Olisa – the first black Lord-Lieutenant for London – has often been pictured with Her Majesty, and he told Channel 4 that he had discussed the “issue of race” with the royal household “particularly in the last 12 months since the George Floyd incident” in the United States.
“It’s a hot conversation topic. The question is what more can we do to bind society to remove these barriers,” he said, adding: “They [the royals] care passionately about making this one nation bound by the same values.”
“The answer is easily yes,” he confirmed when asked if the palace supported the BLM movement.
Sir Ken’s comments come after Meghan Markle accused the royal household of questioning how dark her son Archie’s skin maybe before his birth.
Prince Harry later suggested he felt racism was a factor behind the decision to deny Archie, the first mixed-race great-grandchild of the Queen, security protection or the title of prince.
The Queen issued a statement after the interview aired, saying that the issues raised would be dealt with privately as a family but that “some recollections may vary.”
Harry’s brother, the Duke of Cambridge, defended the monarchy saying “we’re very much not a racist family”.
Buckingham Palace also admitted it is “not where it would like to be” in terms of diversity, after publishing figures that revealed its proportion of ethnic minority employees stands at just 8.5%, with a target of 10% for 2022.
The Queen’s household also brought in a change to its Diversity Strategy in early 2020 – which pre-dates the Oprah interview – to one that actively emphasizes the importance of inclusion.
