Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Did Oprah Interview Prompt Buckingham Palace Review?

Just weeks after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle raised concerns about racism within the royal family, Buckingham Palace is undertaking a review of its diversity policies. According to a new report, the Queen is set to appoint a diversity tsar to modernize the Monarchy and royal aides will learn how “the Monarchy can improve representation” in what is being described as a “major drive” to make further progress, but was this review prompted by the royal couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey?

According to sources who spoke to the Daily Mail, the review is part of an effort to improve diversity at all three houses – Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Kensington Palace – and is an acknowledgment that “more needs to be done” to champion minorities’ rights. While there are already policies in place to promote diversity, the Palace has not achieved the level of progress that had been hoped for. In an effort to achieve this progress, the Palace will “seek independent views” to help assess and improve the approach to diversity – including ethnic minorities, the disabled, and the LGBTQ+ community. Royal aides, meanwhile, will take a “listen and learn” exercise which will involve them “speaking to a range of businesses and individuals about how the Monarchy can improve representation,” and there are reportedly plans for the Queen to appoint a “diversity czar” to oversee these efforts.

“This is an issue which has been taken very seriously across the Households,” a source told the outlet. “We have the policies, procedures and programmes in place but we haven’t seen the progress we would like and accept more needs to be done. We can always improve. We are not afraid to look at new ways of approaching it. The work to do this has been under way for some time now and comes with the full support of the family.”

The outlet notes that the new objective was not prompted by Harry and Markle’s interview with Winfrey, during which they claimed a member of the royal family raised “concerns and conversations” about their son Archie’s skin tone prior to his birth. Rather, the review had reportedly been initiated prior to the interview. In the wake of that interview, however, the comments made by the couple will become part of the diversity review.

At this time, Buckingham Palace has not responded by the report, which comes after the Queen, in an official statement from the Palace, addressed her great-grandson’s interview and vowed the issues raised would be “addressed.” In a statement, Her Majesty said the royal family was “saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been” for the couple. The Queen added that “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning,” with the queen noting that “while some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously.” The statement said the issues would be “addressed by the family privately.”