Prince Harry Denying Royal Racism Claim Could Shatter His Reputation

Prince Harry said Meghan Markle did not accuse the royal family of racism after she told Oprah Winfrey that there were "concerns and conversation" about how dark her unborn child's skin might be before he was born.

The Duke of Sussex has been doing TV interviews to promote his memoir Spare, including one in Britain with a friend of his, Tom Bradby.

The ITV journalist suggested Harry had accused royal family members of racism and the prince replied: "No I didn't. The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention that they're racist?"

Harry acknowledged that "there was concern about his [Archie's] skin color" but asked whether he would describe that as racist he added: "I wouldn't, not having lived within that family."

"Going back to the difference between what my understanding is because of my own experience, the difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different," he said.

"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 learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."

The account triggered criticism from some quarters that have traditionally been positive about Harry and Meghan.

Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, author of This is Why I Resist, wrote on Twitter: "Prince Harry you're WRONG. There's ZERO difference between racist conscious/unconscious bias & racism. Bias is presence of racism & the actions/words are proof therein. You're RIGHT that once pointed out it's the person's responsibility to rectify/grow from it #HarryTheInterview."

There is also a secondary risk which is that millions watched Meghan's comments live and will have formed their own conclusions about the meaning of Meghan's words before having any chance to engage with the British media.

What Meghan Markle told Oprah Winfrey about race

In their 2021 interview, Oprah Winfrey probed Meghan about why she felt the royals had considered not giving Archie the title "prince" and asked: "Do you think it's because of his race?

Meghan replied: "In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time... so, we have in tandem the conversation of, 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."

Oprah's shock was audible, asking "what?" and "who is having that conversation with you?"

"Hold up, hold up, stop right now," Oprah continued before later asking: "Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?"

Meghan said: "I wasn't able to follow up with why, but if that's the assumption you're making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?"

Asked whether she would reveal the identity of the royal in question, Meghan replied: "I think that would be very damaging to them."

Harry later said the question was: "What will the kids look like?" and declined to share further details.

The implications of Prince Harry's latest account

Prince Harry appears to feel that he is disputing the British media's narrative but millions of people watched the interview when it was broadcast live, and it was shown in the United States before the United Kingdom.

If viewers felt that Meghan's account amounted to an allegation of racism then Harry may have unwittingly just told millions of Americans that they are wrong.

Not only that, but those people will all know that, whether right or wrong, their instant gut reaction was not a product of being brainwashed by the British media.

That's important because it threatens to undermine the key, central plank of a huge part of Harry's story, namely his tendency to blame the media for a lot of his problems.

Harry needs his audience to believe that he is acting in good faith and is a reliable narrator rather than someone who simply hates the media so much due to the death of his mother that he blames them for everything.

It is very difficult to marry Oprah's visible shock as she heard the words leave Meghan's mouth with Harry's account that the racism narrative came from the British media.

Harry's audience is not only the public but also American journalists who may find themselves writing and debating him more and more if his revelations continue and they too will know how the U.S. media interpreted Meghan's remarks.

He has at points blamed the press for the collapse of relations with his family and his decision to leave Britain but in this example, viewers can compare his assessment of the media's influence to their own direct experience of hearing Meghan's words for themselves.

Harry and Meghan also allowed the racism narrative to persist in Britain, the U.S. and other countries around the world for almost two years without correcting the record.

The duke is correct that neither he nor Meghan used the term "racist" but they did not use the term "unconscious bias" either, meaning at best they left their meaning ambiguous and then did nothing to correct the record once they had been misunderstood until this latest interview.

That is particularly striking given that another major plank of their complaint about Kensington Palace is the refusal to correct the story accusing Meghan of making Kate Middleton cry.

All this could have a significant impact on Harry and Meghan's approval rating on both sides of the Atlantic. They are far more unpopular in Britain now than at the time when they were working royals but they enjoy most support among 18-24 year olds.

It is very difficult to see how a politically idealistic younger generation is going to get behind the idea that it is unconscious bias rather than racism to express concern about whether an unborn child's skin might be "too brown."