Buckingham Palace barred ethnic minorities from workplace jobs in the course of the Sixties, the Guardian newspaper reported Thursday, citing paperwork in Britain’s Nationwide Archives.
The revelation, printed on the newspaper’s entrance web page, was primarily based on papers displaying that Queen Elizabeth’s chief monetary supervisor advised civil servants in 1968 that it was not the palace’s follow to rent “colored immigrants or foreigners” for clerical posts and different workplace jobs.
The palace replied forcefully to the historic allegations, stressing that the Queen and her family comply “in precept and in follow” with anti-discrimination laws.
“Claims primarily based on a second-hand account of conversations from over 50 years in the past shouldn’t be used to attract or infer conclusions about modern-day occasions or operations,” a palace spokesperson mentioned, talking on the customary situation of anonymity.
The Guardian’s allegations stem from its investigation into the palace’s use of a mechanism referred to as “crown consent,” below which the monarch grants permission for Parliament to debate legal guidelines affecting her.
Parliament accredited legal guidelines barring discrimination primarily based on race and intercourse within the Nineteen Seventies. Paperwork within the Nationwide Archives present how the Queen’s advisers influenced the wording of that laws, the newspaper mentioned.
Race has turn out to be a central situation for the monarchy following statements made by Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in a March interview with speak present host Oprah Winfrey. Meghan alleged that earlier than their son, Archie, was born, a member of the Royal Household commented on how darkish the infant’s pores and skin could be.
Within the ensuing storm, Prince William, Harry’s older brother, defended the Royal Household, stating flatly that “we’re very a lot not a racist household.”