Moments before Prince William took the stage for his first event on a royal tour in Boston, a reverend asked audience members to “consider the legacy of colonialism and racism”.
The Prince and Princess of Wales touched down in the US on Wednesday morning, kicking off their first foreign trip since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and first visit to the country since 2014.
Before the pair had even begun engaging in official duties, however, the trip centred around an Earthshot Prize ceremony became ensnared by a racism scandal over an incident at Buckingham Palace.
Echoing the tension of that ongoing row were the remarks about colonialism’s lasting legacy made by Rev Mariama White-Hammond at Boston’s City Hall on Wednesday, said just before Prince William was set to take the stage.
“The ways it has impacted people across the world and its connection, its deep connection to the degradation of land and our planet that we are all seeking to reverse,” Rev White-Hammond, who is Boston’s chief of environment, energy and open space, said.
“The stories lost, the species made extinct, but also the persistence of people in the face of oppression and the fundamental dignity of all of our relations,” she added.
The comments coincided with an incident that was revealed this week between Prince William’s godmother and a prominent Black advocate for survivors of domestic abuse.
Ngozi Fulani, chief executive of Sistah Space, detailed on Twitter the conversation that allegedly took place between herself, and a woman she referred to as “Lady SH”, but who has since been identified as Lady Susan Hussey, the late Queen’s lady-in-waiting, and Prince William’s godmother.
Ms Fulani detailed how she had been at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday attending the Queen Consort’s reception on violence against women when the incident took place.
While speaking to Lady Susan about her charity in Hackney, Ms Fulani said the member of palace staff pressed her by asking: “No, what part of Africa are YOU from?”
Buckingham Palace said it took the incident at the Queen Consort’s reception on violence against women on Tuesday “extremely seriously” and had investigated immediately.
Rev White-Hammond’s comments, though given an added relevance in light of the recent racism scandal embroiling the royal family, had not been tied to the week’s events, a spokesperson from the Mayor’s Office of Environment, Energy and Open Space confirmed to HuffPost.
The spokesperson noted that the speech had been written well before the incident in London splashed its way onto the front pages of newspapers across the globe.
Prince William, for his part, has not addressed the matter directly. A spokesperson at Kensington Palace, however, said ahead of the royal couple’s departure to the US that “I was really disappointed to hear about the guest’s experience at Buckingham Palace last night. Obviously, I wasn’t there, but racism has no place in our society”.
The spokesperson added that, while this “is a matter for Buckingham Palace”, as the spokesperson for the Prince of Wales, they called the comments “unacceptable, and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect”.
Prince William and Princess Kate will attend an awards ceremony for the Earthshot environmental prize the prince set up on Friday. They will also visit the John F Kennedy Presidential Library, as well as local environmental and social advocacy projects while there.
