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Activist Fugani left, Queen Consort Camilla right
Photo: Kin Cheung/AP
Buckingham Palace has apologized for alleged racist remarks by a member of the Royal Household.
Ngozi Fulani, a black activist who deals with abuse of women of African and Caribbean descent, made allegations against a lady-in-waiting on Twitter on Wednesday.
Fulani, who was invited as a guest at a reception hosted by Queen Consort Camilla, has "mixed feelings" after visiting Buckingham Palace the previous day, she writes.
Ten minutes after her arrival, the "lady" came up to her, brushed her hair aside and looked at her name tag.
A conversation then took place, which the activist summarized in a memorandum.
The lady, who only called her by her initials, is said to have asked, "Where are you really from, where are your people from?" When she didn't answer the question, the woman added, "Oh, I see it's going to be a challenge, you to say where you are from.
Since when have you been here?"
»Politics of Diversity and Inclusion«
The royal family takes the incident very seriously, the person concerned has resigned from her honorary role with immediate effect and apologizes for the suffering caused, Buckingham Palace said.
"Unacceptable and very regrettable comments" were made, the palace said.
Fulani has been invited to speak about the incident if she likes.
All members of the Court staff would be reminded of the Palace's standards of diversity and inclusion, which must be upheld at all times.
The lady-in-waiting herself has not yet commented on the incident.
Racism in the royal house
The British royal family is once again struggling with allegations of this kind. Last year, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and wife of Prince Harry, complained about racism in the royal family in a TV interview.
Meghan, whose mother is African American, said the British royal family were concerned about the color of their first son Archie before she was born.
During the pregnancy, she had to have conversations about how dark his skin would be.
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