"According to Harry, someone speculated about what his future child would ‘look like.’ In one version, Camilla remarked, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if your child had ginger Afro hair?’”
Trigger Warning: This story mentions racist comments that may be disturbing to readers.
There were multiple reasons that led up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's exit from the UK, but a new book has revealed that a racist comment by Harry's stepmother Camilla Parker Bowles played a big part in their decision to leave.
In Tom Bower's book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors, the author claims that “The Sussexes’ suspicion that the Duchess of Cornwall had made racist comments about [their then-unborn son] Archie had fueled their fearsome denunciation of the entire royal family.”
According to Page Six, Bower alleged that Camilla, shortly after Meghan and Harry's relationship became known, made a "racist" remark about the hairstyle of their unborn child.
“During those weeks, Harry met Charles and Camilla at Clarence House. In Harry’s version, the conversation alternated between serious and joking and touched three topics,” Bower wrote in an excerpt from the book.
“First, Harry was told that Meghan should continue with her acting career. Second, Scotland Yard could not automatically be expected to pay for his girlfriend’s 24-hour protection. And third, according to Harry, someone speculated about what his future child would ‘look like.’ In one version, Camilla remarked, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if your child had ginger Afro hair?’”
At first, Harry allegedly “laughed” at the comment, but, per Bower, “subsequently, Meghan’s reaction to that conversation turned Harry’s amusement into fury.”
In March 2021, when Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an explosive, tell-all interview, they said that before Archie was born in May 2019, a member of the royal family inquired what color their child's skin will be, leaving them speechless.
Asked by Winfrey who was responsible for the comments, Markle said at the time there were “several conversations”—although when asked about his take on the matter, Harry said there was just one, insisting: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time, it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Bower also believes that Harry and Camilla's differences will be further explored in his memoir, which is scheduled to be released sometime in 2022 and is ghostwritten by American writer J.R. Moehringer.
“Meghan was expected to help the ghost-writer understand the pain inflicted by the royal family on herself and Harry,” Bower wrote. “Among the targets besides William, Kate and Charles would be Camilla. Meghan had identified her as racist.”
“Camilla, he suspected, would be cited in Harry’s memoir as a reason for the couple to turn away from Britain,” the author wrote of Prince Charles.
He also claimed that the Queen's announcement in February 2022, that Camilla will one day be named Queen Consort was met with “stony silence” from Harry. “Harry’s refusal to acknowledge the Queen’s decision foreshadowed the problems to come,” Bower wrote. “Charles had good reason to fear that Harry’s dislike of Camilla had been re-energized by Meghan.”
“Easily persuaded, Harry edged towards betraying his father, Camilla, the Cambridges and even the Queen … To earn out the publisher’s advance, nothing and no one had been sacrosanct,” he added.
References:
https://pagesix.com/2022/07/21/camilla-parker-bowles-may-be-why-harry-meghan-left-uk-book/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photos By (L) Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool (R) Photo by Finnbarr Webster - WPA Pool
