The Duchess of Cornwall has been dragged into the royal race row by sensational new claims she told Prince Harry it would be “funny” if his unborn mixed-race child had “ginger Afro hair”.
Camilla allegedly made the incendiary comment during discussions in 2016 with Harry and his family concerning his new relationship with the American actress Meghan Markle.
The explosive revelations are contained in journalist Tom Bower’s new unauthorised biography, ‘Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors’, which explores an alleged “rift” between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and other members of the monarchy.
Sources close to Camilla today hit back at the claims as “nonsense”.
After fevered speculation over his new relationship with Meghan, now 40, Harry met with his father Prince Charles for advice on how to handle the situation, Mr Bower claims.
Love the royals? Sign up for the Mirror's daily newsletter to get all the latest news on the Queen, Charles, Kate, Wills, Meghan, Harry and the rest of The Firm. Click here to sign up
The intimate chats included Meghan continuing in her career as a television actress, offers of police protection and a controversial comment on the appearance of his unborn children.
In a separate interview Harry and Meghan later told US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey that a member of his family, who they refused to name, made a comment on how “dark his skin might be when he’s born” in reference to their first born Archie.
Mr Bower claims: “During those weeks, Harry met Charles and Camilla at Clarence House.
“In Harry’s version, Harry was told that Meghan should continue with her acting career.
“Second, Scotland Yard could not automatically be expected to pay for his girlfriend’s 24- hour protection.
Just over a year later, in November 2017, Harry and Meghan announced their engagement and married in a lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle in the spring the following year.
The couple were lauded as the new fresh face of the monarchy, ready to capitalise on Meghan’s soaring public profile and humanitarian background having worked with global charities and spoken at the United Nations.
But the couple quickly became disillusioned with royal life, believing they were being sidelined before they plotted their escape from The Firm.
Meghan later revealed in their Oprah interview how she felt suicidal when pregnant with her first child after feeling abandoned by the royal family.
The couple sensationally decided to quit their royal roles, making an unprecedented announcement on Instagram in January 2020, after feeling their pleas for change were not being listened to.
A year later after being told by the Queen there was no place for a “half in half out” model, the Duke and Duchess decided to unleash a series of damaging allegations in the bombshell chat with Oprah in front of an audience of 80million.
Meghan went further to claim how there were “several conversations” between herself, Harry and members within the royal family about “how dark” their baby could be before their son Archie was born.
“In those months when I was pregnant [there were] concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born,” Meghan said in the interview.
Harry added: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Mr Bower goes on to claim in his book: “Four years later, Harry described the aftermath of those conversations as ‘really hard’ and ‘awkward’.
“But none of his previous girlfriends had given up work or been protected by the police.
“Harry also knew that Charles’s limited income from the Duchy of Cornwall meant the annual allowance to himself would never exceed £1.5 million, a substantial amount by most standards. Finally, in his view, any family speculation about a child’s appearance was (unfortunately) seen by his elders as light-hearted.
“A conversation with Meghan would change that assumption.”
Mr Bower, who has called the Sussexes “dreadful” for Britain, this week said he hoped his controversial book would “hasten” the couple’s downfall.
Representatives for Harry and Meghan have been contacted.
