Royal Family Accusations Raise Race Issue in Commonwealth Nations
2021-03-14
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1In countries with historic ties to Britain, recent accusations by Prince Harry and Meghan have raised a difficult question:
2Do those nations still want to be closely connected to Britain and its royal family?
3In a recent interview, Meghan said that an unnamed member of the royal family had raised "concerns" about how dark the skin color of her baby with Harry would be.
4At the time, she was pregnant with the couple's son, Archie.
5Meghan's mother is Black and her father is white.
6She also claimed in the interview that the palace failed to help her when she experienced suicidal thoughts.
7Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the accusations of racism by Harry and Meghan were "concerning" and would be dealt with privately by the royal family.
8It was expected that Harry and Meghan's interview would uncover more divisions in the royal family.
9But now, it also seems to be risking divisions within the "family" of the Commonwealth.
10The Commonwealth is a group of 54 countries, most of them former British colonies.
11For many years, Queen Elizabeth II has been the driving force behind the Commonwealth.
12After the TV interview, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was another reason for the country to cut its constitutional ties to Britain's royal family.
13"After the end of the queen's reign, that is the time for us to say: OK, we've passed that watershed," Turnbull told Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
14Watershed is a term that means a time when an important change happens.
15Turnbull added, "Do we really want to have whoever happens to be the head of state, the king or queen of the U.K.... our head of state?"
16The value of the Commonwealth has been debated before, with critics questioning whether countries and people colonized in the past should remain in such a group.
17Its stated aim is to improve international relations.
18But Britain's relationship with the members has been clouded by diplomatic issues and the long-term effects of colonization.
19In a speech to mark Commonwealth Day on Monday, the queen spoke of "the spirit of unity."
20The interview this week "opens our eyes further" on issues related to the Commonwealth, wrote Nicholas Sengoba, a newspaper writer in the former colony of Uganda.
21He questioned whether the heads of Commonwealth countries should still be "proud to eat dinner" with members of the British royal family.
22Reaction to the interview was especially strong in Africa.
23In Kenya, news of the interview appeared widely in the country's newspapers.
24"We feel very angry seeing our fellow African sister being harassed because she is black," said Nairobi resident Sylvia Wangari, about Meghan's claims of mistreatment.
25One Twitter user in South Africa wrote: "It's Britain and the royal family. What did you expect? They oppressed us for years."
26The interview was not shown on television in India, the Commonwealth's largest member country with 1.3 billion people.
27But it still was covered by the media and drew criticism from the public toward the royal family.
28Fashion writer Meenakshi Singh used the term elegant -- a term that means showing good taste -- when sharing her thoughts on the issue.
29"Behind that whole elegant facade are thoughts that are not so elegant," Singh said.
30I'm John Russell.
1In countries with historic ties to Britain, recent accusations by Prince Harry and Meghan have raised a difficult question: Do those nations still want to be closely connected to Britain and its royal family? 2In a recent interview, Meghan said that an unnamed member of the royal family had raised "concerns" about how dark the skin color of her baby with Harry would be. At the time, she was pregnant with the couple's son, Archie. Meghan's mother is Black and her father is white. She also claimed in the interview that the palace failed to help her when she experienced suicidal thoughts. 3Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the accusations of racism by Harry and Meghan were "concerning" and would be dealt with privately by the royal family. 4It was expected that Harry and Meghan's interview would uncover more divisions in the royal family. 5But now, it also seems to be risking divisions within the "family" of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a group of 54 countries, most of them former British colonies. For many years, Queen Elizabeth II has been the driving force behind the Commonwealth. 6After the TV interview, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was another reason for the country to cut its constitutional ties to Britain's royal family. 7"After the end of the queen's reign, that is the time for us to say: OK, we've passed that watershed," Turnbull told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Watershed is a term that means a time when an important change happens. 8Turnbull added, "Do we really want to have whoever happens to be the head of state, the king or queen of the U.K.... our head of state?" 9The value of the Commonwealth has been debated before, with critics questioning whether countries and people colonized in the past should remain in such a group. 10Its stated aim is to improve international relations. But Britain's relationship with the members has been clouded by diplomatic issues and the long-term effects of colonization. In a speech to mark Commonwealth Day on Monday, the queen spoke of "the spirit of unity." 11The interview this week "opens our eyes further" on issues related to the Commonwealth, wrote Nicholas Sengoba, a newspaper writer in the former colony of Uganda. 12He questioned whether the heads of Commonwealth countries should still be "proud to eat dinner" with members of the British royal family. 13Reaction to the interview was especially strong in Africa. 14In Kenya, news of the interview appeared widely in the country's newspapers. "We feel very angry seeing our fellow African sister being harassed because she is black," said Nairobi resident Sylvia Wangari, about Meghan's claims of mistreatment. 15One Twitter user in South Africa wrote: "It's Britain and the royal family. What did you expect? They oppressed us for years." 16The interview was not shown on television in India, the Commonwealth's largest member country with 1.3 billion people. But it still was covered by the media and drew criticism from the public toward the royal family. 17Fashion writer Meenakshi Singh used the term elegant -- a term that means showing good taste -- when sharing her thoughts on the issue. 18"Behind that whole elegant facade are thoughts that are not so elegant," Singh said. 19I'm John Russell. 20Gerald Imray reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 21_____________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23interview - n. a meeting between a reporter and another person in order to get information for a news story 24reign - n. the period of time during which a king, queen, emperor, etc., is ruler of a country 25harassed - v. to annoy or bother (someone) in a constant or repeated way 26facade - n. a way of behaving or appearing that gives other people a false idea of your true feelings or situation