The ex-government tsar for race equality has waded into the royal racism row by slamming claims two senior royals were being racist when allegedly discussing the skin colour of Prince Archie before he was born.
Sir Trevor Phillips today questioned the furore over the alleged comments made by King Charles and Kate, describing the apparent insinuations as “nonsense”.
The pair were sensationally named as the family members who allegedly raised “concerns” over Archie’s skin colour in an apparent “translation error” in the Dutch version of Omid Scobie’s book Endgame, which has since been pulled from the shelves.
A UK version of the book did not include their names - but Piers Morgan used his TalkTV show on Thursday night to reveal the royal family members’ names again.
Speaking on Sky News today, Sir Trevor, who was chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission from 2007 to 2012, rubbished the story.
He said he did not know the context of the alleged comments, but said it was a conversation had by families of colour anywhere in the world. He went on to say the alleged discussion could have been a “mark of excitement”.
He said: “I’ll be absolutely frank and say I think it’s a nonsense story. I think that there is no family of colour anywhere in the entire world where that conversation doesn’t take place’.
“I have a grandson who is absolutely gorgeous and delicious, I wish I could show you a photograph of him, and of course we as a family talk about is he going to look more like his mother, who looks like me, or his father, who is of Puerto Rican heritage.
“In the same way that I guess your family might talk about what hair colour, what eye colour. We all have the same hair colour. The thing that is different about us is skin colour.
“So it’s a mark of excitement. I suspect, I have no idea what context the conversation took place - and I imagine the conversation did take place - but I suspect what somebody might have been saying is I really hope this baby looks more like her than it looks like him.’
It is the second time Sir Trevor has dismissed claims of racism over the alleged comments, which emerged in an explosive interview by Oprah Winfrey with Harry and Meghan in 2021.
Meghan told the presenter an unidentified member of the monarchy had raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on TalkTV in June, Sir Trevor criticised Meghan of being naive and overly sensitive. He said: “When she supposedly made this incendiary claim about somebody asking what colour Archie’s skin colour will be; well actually every Black family...... you know there’s somebody coming, it’s what you’re speculating about. White people, it’s what colour hair....”
Morgan intervened: “Particularly in a family where one parent is white and one parent is Black.”
Before Sir Trevor concluded: “But the point I really want to make about Meghan Markle is, she had to learn to be Black on the job, as it were. And I think she made a bit of a mess of it.”
The row following the publication of Endgame has dominated the news agenda, even overshadowing the King’s address to Cop28 on Friday morning. On Thursday night, as William and Kate attended the Royal Variety Performance, a journalist asked for a comment on the book - but the pair chose not to respond.
Buckingham Palace has also not yet issued a formal statement. Reportedly, members are “considering all options” - but there is a growing feeling that they should respond as royal commentators fear for the “long-lasting reputational damage”.
Joe Little, of Majesty magazine, said: “The allegations, true or untrue, will clearly put doubt in the minds of people who are aware of the individuals who have been named. That can’t be helpful in any shape or form.”
Meanwhile, Mr Scobie, the journalist behind Endgame, has refused to apologise as he claimed a “full investigation” was being carried out into how the names appeared in the Dutch edition of his book.
