Racism in the British Crown: Reveals He Avoided C …

As if the British Crown did not already have enough problems due to various scandals, it has just been added that the Royal family had the political support of being exempt from laws that prohibit discrimination in Britain.

The newspaper The Guardian revealed in an investigation that it was a common practice until at least the late 1960s, that is, for almost the first twenty years of the reign of Elizabeth II. “Immigrants or foreigners of color”, according to documents to which the newspaper had access, they were not admitted to official functions in the Buckingham Palace. At one point, that ceased to be the case, but it’s unclear when.

According to information that has come to light, the Queen’s Chief Financial Officer informed officials in 1968 that “it was in fact not customary to appoint immigrants of color or foreigners” to clerical jobs in the royal family, although they are allowed to work. as house staff.

During these years, British law incorporated racial and ethnic equality. It did so when two of its former African colonies, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa, practiced racial segregation. South African apartheid had constitutional status and the UK separated South Africa from the Commonwealth of Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations.

The disclosure comes amid controversy sparked by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s interview on North American television, in which they pointed out that inside the palace there were derogatory comments due of their son Archie’s skin color (Markle is of African American descent). The press tried to find out where these comments were coming from and Harry had to come out and clarify that these words were foreign to his grandparents. All eyes fell on his brother Guillermo and his wife Kate.

To complete the picture, Boris Johnon’s government published a report at the end of March in which it argued that the country is not institutionally racist and that it should even be taken as an example among predominantly white nations. population. . The report was produced by the Independent Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities, established by Prime Minister Johnson following the Black Lives Matters protests in 2020. The commission was made up of representatives from different ethnic groups. “No one is denying or saying that racism does not exist. We have found indirect evidence of it. But … evidence of genuine institutional racism? No, we did not find that,” Tony said. Sewell, President of the Commission.

How was the survey born?

Research The Guardian it originates in “the queen’s consent”, a parliamentary procedure by which the monarch authorizes Parliament to debate rules that affect him and his private interests. Journalists from The Guardian sought to detail how the monarchy can influence the process and they encountered a segregationist practice within the palace.

The documents to which you had access The Guardian show that in 1968 the Home Secretary, James Callaghan (future Prime Minister between 1976 and 1979), doubted the advisability of asking Elizabeth II for permission to debate a racism law in the House of the communes. Callaghan was looking for an extension of the rights. The law prohibited discrimination in public places and the official wanted to extend the prevention of racism to employment and housing.

A Callaghan dependent official named TG Weiler had meetings with Lord Tyron, the Queen’s financial adviser. He told Weiler that Elizabeth II did not see the law askew, but that he wanted an exemption allowing him to reject job applications from those with less than five years of residence in Britain.

The three classes of palace personnel

According to Tyron, there were then three categories of staff in the palace: “(a) managerial positions, which do not have any publicity or open appointment system and which would presumably be accepted as falling outside the scope. application of the bill; (b) office positions, for which, in fact, it was not customary to appoint immigrants of color or foreigners; and (c) ordinary domestic positions for which applicants of color were freely considered, but which in any event would be covered by the proposed general exemption for domestic employment.

In the 1970s, three laws were enacted against racial and gender discrimination in the workplace, which opened up the possibility of legal action in the courts. However, this was not the case for the employees of Buckingham Palace. The 1975 sex discrimination law had been “acceptable to the palace, in large part because it did not explicitly designate persons employed by Her Majesty in a personal capacity for a special exception,” according to an official.

The exemption has been extended so far. Meanwhile, the Equality Law was enacted in 2010, which replaced the Race Relations Law of 1976, the Gender Discrimination Law of 1975 and the Equal Pay Law of 1970. Meanwhile time, royalty added criticism for not hiring few black, Asian or ethnic minorities. people.