Prince William’s U.S. trip faces ‘disaster’ over godmother’s racist comments at palace event

As Prince William arrived in Boston Wednesday, part of his effort to show a new and modern version of the British royal family, he had to deal with a PR emergency back home involving racist comments made by a royal aide at a reception at Buckingham Palace the day before.

It didn’t help that the comments were made by Lady Susan Hussey, William’s 83-year-old godmother, or that they played into narrative put forth by critics of the monarchy — including William’s brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan Markle — who see it as an antiquated institution that still holds traces of its racist, colonial past.

London-based public relations expert Mark Borkowski agreed that Hussey’s comments have created public relations “disaster” for the royal family, “especially at the start of William and Kate’s US trip which will be dominated by a new racism row.” Borkowski told the Daily Mail: “They are flying into a perfect storm.”

Before a plane carrying William and his wife, Kate Middleton, landed in Boston, marking the couple’s significant first trip to the United States in eight years, the new Prince of Wales had to address Hussey’s “unacceptable” comments to Ngozi Fulani, a Black, London-based domestic abuse activist, People reported. 

A spokesperson for the Prince and Princess of Wales said: “Racism has no place in our society. These comments were unacceptable and it’s right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”

The spokesperson was referring to the announcement from Buckingham Palace that Hussey had stepped aside from her new job in King Charles III’s household after she was involved in what’s been called a “shocking” exchange with Fulani, at a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by Camilla, the queen consort.

According to Fulani’s account of the exchange, Hussey repeatedly questioned her about where she was “really from,” even after she told her she was born in the U.K. and is British.

Hussey had been known as the “Number One Head Girl” for the queen, having been a part of her inner circle since the birth of Prince Andrew in 1960, Tatler reported. She had accompanied the late monarch to the funeral of Prince Philip, was William’s godmother and was asked by the queen to help introduce Meghan to the expectations of royal life before her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. According to royal author Tom Bower, Hussey also predicted a tumultuous future for Meghan and Harry. “That will end in tears. Mark my words,” she reportedly said.

This incident of racial insensitivity by a longtime royal aide comes at a tricky time for the royal family and threatens to overshadow William and Kate’s three-day trip to Boston. The couple have come to the United States, ostensibly to present the Earthshot Prize, an annual environmental award handed out by the Royal Foundation, an organization William founded to help entrepreneurs with solutions to climate change and environmental issues. William and Kate will be joined at the star-studded Earthshot Prize ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Friday evening by the late president’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy.

The New York Times said the trip is “weighted with extra significance” as the couple try to help the royal family “rebrand itself as a modern monarchy,” following the queen’s death in September and Harry and Meghan’s acrimonious flight from royal life to California in 2020.

William and Kate face added pressure for their Boston trip to go well because Harry and Meghan are set to be honored next week in New York City by another branch of the Kennedy family for taking a “heroic” stand against “structural racism” in the monarchy.

Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit named in honor of her late father, said in an interview earlier this month that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will receive the nonprofit’s annual Ripple of Hope award at a gala in New York because they had the courage to challenge the royal family’s “power structure.”

Kerry Kennedy didn’t clarify how she believes Harry and Meghan took this “heroic” stand, but she could be referring to the couple’s blockbuster March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. That’s when they made the incendiary allegation that a member of the royal family asked about the skin color of their future children.

Ever since that interview, royal observers have tried to identify the so-called “royal racist.” Immediately after the interview, William angrily replied to his brother and sister-in-law’s allegations: “We’re very much not a racist family.”

But with Hussey’s alleged remarks, the royal family finds itself embroiled in another race controversy, as it also contends with ongoing concerns about the failure of Buckingham Palace to diversify its staff.

Hussey allegedly approached Fulani and grilled her about her racial heritage after she had been at the reception for only 10 minutes, Fulani said. Fulani heads the Sistah Space nonprofit, an organization that provides support to Black women affected by sexual abuse and domestic violence. Camilla’s reception for some 300 people was meant to highlight her efforts to combat domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.

As Fulani outlined on Twitter, she said Hussey moved her hair aside to see her name badge. “Where are you from?” Fulani said she was asked. When Fulani said she was from Sistah Space, the aide said: “No, where do you come from?”

Fulani said she answered that the organization is based in northeast London. “No,” Hussey allegedly replied, “What part of Africa are you from?” Fulani explained that she was born in the U.K. and is British, but the aide continued to press: “No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?”

After Mulani said she was a British national and her parents came to the U.K. in the 1950s, the aide said, “Oh, I knew we’d get there in the end, you’re Caribbean!” Fulani replied, “No lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent and British nationality.”

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full details.”

The palace also called the comments “unacceptable and deeply regrettable,” and said it had reached out to Fulani to invite her to discuss her experience and reported that the “individual concerned” would “like to express her profound apologies for the hurt caused.”

The palace furthermore confirmed that Hussey had stepped aside from her position in the royal household and that all royal staffers “are being reminded of the diversity and inclusivity policies which they are required to uphold at all times.”