A lot of tittle-tattle but what happened to racism claims?
Prince Harry’s autobiography covers an awful lot of ground. Some might say rather too much ground. Is the world a better place for the knowledge of his grassy-kneed teenage fumblings behind a pub, or the frostnip he suffered on his “todger”?
Such important grievances as Prince William having a bigger bedroom at Balmoral are given a public airing, which makes it all the more baffling that one particular gripe makes no appearance at all: the issue of the “racist” in the Royal family.
The most damaging allegation made by the Sussexes since they fled the country three years ago – that a member of the Royal family speculated about the colour of their unborn baby’s skin – is entirely absent from Spare.
There is no suggestion that the Duke and Duchess have backtracked on what they say happened in a private conversation with a senior member of the Royal family. But there are several reasons Harry might have decided to leave it out. Intriguingly, the couple claimed to have been surprised that the claim of racism became the biggest story out of their interview with Oprah Winfrey. They had naively thought their mental health struggles would attract the biggest headlines, which tells us plenty about how they believe the world sees them.
It may well be, then, that the Prince decided to omit the episode from his memoirs to ensure that it did not overshadow the other allegations he has made, such as the Queen Consort’s alleged scheming (hotly disputed by her allies) or his fisticuffs with William in 2019. After all, the only way he could add anything new to the story would be to name the person who allegedly said it. We know it was not the late Queen or Duke of Edinburgh, as Harry and Meghan ruled them out after the Oprah broadcast, and outing the alleged culprit would risk an ugly, high-stakes defamation case.
It could even be that Harry was warned off by the mystery royal’s lawyers, or that his publisher’s legal team banned any extra details of the incident being included.
More worryingly for the Royal family, another scenario is that Harry is holding back his most potent weapon for a future book (he and his wife have signed a multi-book deal with Penguin Random House). Having such an explosive secret in his locker would undoubtedly give him leverage in his future dealings with the Royal family, though he has been clear that it is reconciliation, not confrontation, that he most craves.
There is, however, one other possibility: that Harry, in a moment of self-reflection, decided it would be hypocritical to make fresh accusations of racism against others when he admits that he has himself been guilty of racism in the past, however inadvertently.
In 2012, he was ordered to attend an equality and diversity course by the Army after being formally disciplined for referring to a fellow cadet as his “little P--- friend”. Racial awareness training is mandatory for all recruits, but Harry had to repeat the course.
In his autobiography, Harry claims he did not realise “P---” was an insult because of his privileged upbringing, and that he equated it with calling someone a Yankee. At the time, the Prince apologised for the remark, which he said was not meant maliciously. It may well be that any comment made about the colour of baby Archie’s skin was also “not meant maliciously”, if it happened at all.
Friends of the Royal family have claimed the conversation about Archie was “twisted” by Meghan and Harry and was never about skin colour at all (“recollections may vary”, as the late Queen memorably said).
In his youth, Harry, in common with his father and his brother, also referred to Kolin Dhillon, a long-standing friend at Cirencester Polo Club, as “Sooty”, which they defended at the time as a nickname that pre-dated their friendship with him, and with which Mr Dhillon was perfectly comfortable.
Friends said it had been a “sort of running joke about political correctness”. We can only speculate on whether Harry’s wife, who has described racism she suffered as a child, would have shared such a view.
Harry is also the man who wore a Nazi uniform, the ultimate symbol of racist genocide, for a laugh at a fancy dress party when he was 20. He told a Netflix documentary last year that it had been one of the “biggest mistakes” of his life.
Nearly two years on from the Oprah interview, Harry has had plenty of time to reflect on whether he is in the right position to accuse others of racial insensitivities.
Harry is also the man who wore a Nazi uniform, the ultimate symbol of racist genocide