Prince Harry receives flak for saying royals 'not racist'

Prince Harry tells Tom Bradby in his interview for "Spare" that the senior royal who questioned Archie's skin colour before he was born was not racist. He also denied that he accused the royals of racism in his interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Bradby pointedly asked the Duke of Sussex during the ITV interview, "In the Oprah interview, you accuse members of your family of racism..." to which the duke replied, "No. The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention 'they're racists'?"

Bradby answered, "She said there were troubling comments about Archie's skin color. Wouldn't you describe that as essentially racist?" The Duke of Sussex replied; "I wouldn't, not having lived within that family."

Prince Harry said it was not racism but a display of "unconscious bias." He then explained the difference between the two and said, "Once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise, an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that... otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."

The 38-year-old referenced a recent incident involving Lady Susan Hussey, who was accused of asking racially-charged questions at "Sistah Space" founder Ngoni Fulani. He said he and Meghan Markle "love" Lady Susan and that his wife "thinks she's great."

The duke believes that Lady Susan "never meant any harm at all but the response from the British press and from people online because of the stories that they wrote was horrendous, absolutely horrendous."

However, Prince Harry is being criticised for not clarifying the public's assumption that he and Meghan Markle accused the royal family of being racist until his interview with Bradby. One wrote on Twitter, "So when Meghan said she thought Archie's mixed heritage is the reason he didn't get a title, was she implying that was unconscious bias? Or was it the systemic racism they fought so hard they were given (and accepted) an award?"

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed in their Oprah interview that a senior royal family member had raised concerns over how dark Archie would look before he was born. Many had expected the duke to name-drop the royal in "Spare." But he refused to identify the individual to this day.