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Lady Susan Hussey with Queen Elizabeth II: The former lady-in-waiting resigned after being accused of racism
Photo: Chris Radburn / dpa
A lady-in-waiting has apologized to a black activist after allegations of racism against a member of the British royal family's court staff.
Lady Susan Hussey, a godmother of Prince William, met Ngozi Fulani in the morning to discuss last month's incident, according to a joint statement by Buckingham Palace and non-governmental organization Sistah Space.
Fulani, the founder of Sistah Space, said after a reception by Queen Consort Camilla in late November that she had "mixed feelings" after visiting Buckingham Palace the previous day.
A lady-in-waiting kept asking where she "really" came from.
For example, she described on Twitter how Hussy questioned her and did not accept her answer that she was British.
After she made the incident public, she was also overwhelmed with insults and hostilities.
Immediately after the allegations became known, the royal family announced that they were taking the incident very seriously, that the person concerned (Hussey's name was not explicitly mentioned) had resigned from her honorary role with immediate effect and apologized for the suffering caused.
"Unacceptable and very regrettable comments" were made, the palace said.
Fulani has been invited to speak about the incident if she likes.
Now this meeting has taken place.
Lady Susan sincerely apologized for her comments and the distress she caused Ms. Fulani, the statement said.
In addition, she has pledged to raise her awareness of these sensitive issues and is grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the issues in this area.
Fulani, who has "unjustifiably received an insult on social media," accepted the apology.
She knows "that there are no bad intentions behind it."
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.
bbr/Reuters