The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, made scathing criticism of Britain during a documentary produced by the Netflix site.
The couple described the UK as a “racist” country and linked the debate over leaving the EU to racism and “horrific views”.
In one clip, Prince Harry said the royal family is “unconsciously biased” and “part of the problem” when it comes to racism in Britain.
The first part of the documentary included lengthy testimony from academics Afua Hirsch and David Olusoka, who called British anti-immigration sentiment a “racial code” while discussing the country’s colonial legacy, arguing that British traditions are “infested with racist imaginations”. Brexit is European and ethnic prejudice.
The colonial past
According to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, the allegations were made through the first three episodes of the Harry and Meghan documentary, which lasted three hours.
Academic Afua Hirsch said: “If you go to a palace or a luxury house or any place that reflects traditions, you will encounter racist images.”
Hirsch feels that Britain’s “painful” colonial past is “all history” and “there’s no point in looking back,” while “those in Britain” who extracted wealth from the colonies “have been getting richer generation after generation.”
Former Palace spokesman James Holt said Brexit provided a “perfect storm” that “lent credence to the spirit of chauvinism and nationalism and gave more strength and confidence to people with truly catastrophic world views”.
For her part, Meghan said people raised such an issue about her race when she moved to England: “Before that, most people didn’t think of me as a black woman.”
Olusoka explained that slave owners receiving compensation for “their human property” was “taken out” from the lessons of history, which he said was “another way our memories of British slavery are thrown away”.
Observers felt that this racist legacy made it difficult for Meghan to integrate into society and be widely accepted and loved by the British public.
European union
Speakers touched on the UK leaving the European Union and Harry this series is not just our story… it’s always bigger than us.
According to the “Daily Mail” report, the pictures indicated that racism was a major factor behind the vote to leave Britain from the European Union, and that the wider political environment was hostile to Meghan becoming part of the family.
The Brexit debate is revisited at the end of episode two.
According to Luluzoka, Harry and Meghan’s “fairy tale” is about “positioning themselves in a country with a very toxic debate about the EU”.
“Immigration is absolutely at the center” of this debate, he adds, and immigration is often in this country’s code for race.
Later, a series of clips show British citizens making racist comments.
“Coffee trailblazer. Social media ninja. Unapologetic web guru. Friendly music fan. Alcohol fanatic.”
More Stories
Eurovision 2023: The song contest’s closing ceremony will be shown in cinemas for the first time
Stock indices in the United Kingdom fell at the end of today’s session; The Investing.com Britain 100 fell 1.25%
British newspaper: United Kingdom at risk of another banking crisis