Prince Harry denies royal family racism claim following Oprah interview

The Duke of Sussex has denied labelling the royal family racist, instead placing the blame for the accusation with the "British tabloid press."

Speaking to Tom Bradby on ITV to promote his memoir Spare, Harry downplayed the significance of a moment in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Oprah interview in March 2021.

During the interview, the Sussexes spoke of a senior family member discussing the possible colour of Archie's skin as a result of having a biracial parent.

"In the Oprah interview, you accuse members of your family of racism," Bradby says, prompting Prince Harry to shake his head.

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"The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention they're racists?" the royal countered.

Harry conceded he and Meghan discussed their awareness there was "concern about his [Archie's] skin colour" among senior royals, which he explained wasn't a result of racism but "unconscious bias".

"But once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to to learn and grow from that," Harry explained.

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Following the Oprah interview, the royal family was accused of racism.

Members of the press questioned the Prince and Princess of Wales during a event, where one reporter called out to William: "Is the royal family a racist family, sir?"

The encounter prompted Prince William to respond curtly: "We are very much not a racist family."

Buckingham Palace quickly announced a "diversity review" in response to the couple's claims, which Harry claims failed to happen.

Earlier in the the ITV interview, Prince Harry laid more blame on the press for alleging racism when unconscious bias was truly at fault, discussing recent racism claims against Lady Susan Hussey following her meeting with charity boss at Sistah Space and advocate Ngozi Fulani.

Lady Susan reportedly repeatedly asked Fulani "what part of Africa" she was from, to which Fulani took offense.

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The pair later met to discuss the incident, with the palace releasing the statement: "Lady Susan has pledged to deepen her awareness of the sensitivities involved and is grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the issues in this area."

Prince Harry spoke of his love for Lady Susan, the late Queen's former lady in waiting.

He told Bradby: "All we've ever asked for in the last – certainly the last few years – is some accountability. And I'm very happy for Ngozi Fulani to be invited into the palace to sit down with Lady Susan Hussey and to reconcile, because Meghan and I love Susan Hussey. (Meghan) thinks she's great.

"And I also know that what she meant – she 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."