Prince Harry considered that the Commonwealth, led by his grandmother Queen Elisabeth II, should " recognize " the errors linked to its colonial past, during a meeting whose video extracts were published Monday by the association which organized it, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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" When we look at the Commonwealth, it is not possible to move forward if we do not recognize the past, " said Prince Harry, about this grouping of 54 countries, most of which were part of the British colonial empire.
Speaking at a video meeting organized by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust's, an association created to allow young people from the Commonwealth to share their points of view, the 35-year-old prince said that " it will not be easy and in some cases it will make us uncomfortable, but we have to do it, because everyone will benefit from it ”. " This introspection is to recognize the mistakes that we have all made, right?" "Added his wife Meghan Markle, a 38-year-old ex-Métis American actress, who had already spoken in early June about racism and police violence in the United States.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, President and Co-President of the association, joined this meeting on July 1 to video to reflect on the future of the Commonwealth in light of the " Black Lives Matter " movement, sparked by the Death of George Floyd, an unarmed black American asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
From Los Angeles, where the couple have lived since their withdrawal from the British royal family, Harry and Meghan were able to interact with four young black leaders of organizations aiming to combat racism or promote diversity. Last week, Harry underlined his personal commitment to the fight against institutional racism, saying that he had " no place " in society but was still too widespread. He had also denounced on several occasions the racism which the British press showed according to him with regard to his wife.
In the United Kingdom, several events linked to the " Black Lives Matter " movement have been organized in recent weeks and certain statues symbolizing the colonial past of the country have been targeted, even unbolted.
