Opera star Danielle de Niese found Meghan’s claims about racism in the UK “very disturbing”. As a prominent woman of color who married into an upper-class white British family connected to one of our favorite institutions, de Niese might be expected to have an affinity for the Duchess of Sussex.
However, the opera star – who is married to Gus Christie, chairman of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival – didn’t appreciate the comments in the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“What I find strange is getting your home country of America to say that the entire country of Britain is racist… I find that very disturbing.
“That’s not to say racism isn’t everywhere, because it is, but I don’t think you can camouflage everyone with the same brush. Saying that a whole community of people is racist hasn’t been my experience.
The 43-year-old soprano, whose parents are from Sri Lanka with mixed European roots, spent her childhood in Australia before migrating to America with her family as a teenager.
She is now chatelaine of the estate in the South Downs, East Sussex, where music lovers enjoy picnics on the lawns before catching the world-famous opera in the summer, and considers Britain her home.
She didn’t agree with Meghan and Harry’s insults about “racism” in the royal family – which the prince backtracked on in recent interviews – and said Meghan should have followed her lead.
“I am a mixed-race person and I married a man who is not part of the royal family but is still part of a great institution,” de Niese told the Mail.
“I made it my goal to support my husband and learn more about the people around me. I’ve put a lot of effort into finding out what’s happening here. There were people who tried to imply that I was ‘groundbreaking,’ but I didn’t like that because it feeds the ego.”
The First Lady of Glyndebourne has two young children with Christie and is stepmother to his four sons from his first marriage. “When Meghan and Harry first became public, everyone was super happy for them,” she adds.
“I feel like we’ll never really know why it went wrong. It’s a complex story.”
