Princess Pushy apologises over ‘racist’ brooch at Meghan meal
PRINCESS Michael of Kent apologised last night for wearing a ‘racist’ blackamoor brooch to the Queen’s Christmas lunch attended by Prince Harry’s mixed-race fiancee Meghan Markle.
The royal, 72, could clearly be seen wearing the distinctive piece of jewellery on her coat as she drove into Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
She was not sat at the same table as Miss Markle, 36, who was attending for the first time, but would have been introduced to her at the private gathering.
The bride-to-be, whose father Thomas Markle is white, and mother, Doria Ragland, is black, has often spoken about the racism she experienced both as a child and as a grown woman.
Blackamoor is a genre of figurines, small sculptures or jewellery which depict largely men, but sometimes women, with black skin.
Extremely popular in the 18th century, they are now considered to be highly racially insensitive and the word blackamoor has been condemned as a term of abuse.
A spokesman for the princess, who lives in an apartment at Kensington Palace, just a stone’s throw from Harry and Meghan’s cottage in the grounds, said: ‘The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. Princess Michael is distressed and very sorry that it has caused offence.’
It is understood that the royal, who is married to the Queen’s cousin, will not wear it again.
Photographs showing her wearing the offending piece of jewellery earned widespread condemnation on social media.
One user wrote: ‘Has no- one noticed the Blackamoor pin that Princess Michael of Kent is wearing?... Meghan Markle official meets the family and is greeted by THIS?’
Another attacked her for her ‘racist jewellery’, while a third added: ‘This woman is an embarrassment to the Royal Family.’
Miss Markle has told how she feels compelled to speak out about racism after being subjected to years of prejudice.
She claimed that some who believed she was Caucasian even made ‘black jokes’ in front of her.