President Biden to meet Prince William, Kate amid royal racism controversy - The Washington Post

The royal mates arrived successful Boston connected Wednesday for a three-day sojourn that ends Friday erstwhile they denote the winners of their Earthshot prize, a worldwide contention aimed astatine discovering ways to safeguard the satellite and combat clime change. The mates attended the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat hoops crippled Wednesday night, sitting courtside with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov.-elect Maura Healey (D).

The White House announced that President Biden plans to conscionable William and Catherine connected Friday erstwhile helium is successful Boston. Press caput Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that officials were finalizing the details of the meeting.

But adjacent earlier William and Catherine landed, quality was spreading that Lady Susan Hussey, William’s godmother and a salient lady-in-waiting to his grandmother, had resigned her relation wrong the royal household. Hussey stepped down a time aft she reportedly pressed a Black British impermanent astatine Buckingham Palace astir wherever she was “really from.”

In announcing Hussey’s resignation, Buckingham Palace issued “profound apologies for the wounded caused.”

Ngozi Fulani, a British activistic and caput of a home maltreatment charity, was astatine Buckingham Palace connected Tuesday for a reception to rise consciousness astir unit against women and girls. She tweeted afterward that a palace unit member, whom she identified lone arsenic “Lady SH,” came up to her and repeatedly asked her questions specified arsenic “What portion of Africa are you from?” and “What Nationality are you?”

When Fulani insisted she was “born present and americium British,” the pistillate allegedly followed up by asking, “But wherever bash you truly travel from?”

The back-and-forth felt similar “an interrogation,” Fulani aboriginal told the BBC. “You’re trying to marque maine unwelcome successful my ain space,” she said, describing the enactment of questioning arsenic a signifier of “abuse.”

It’s the latest race-related contention to envelop the Firm, arsenic the royal household is known successful the United Kingdom. Their speedy effect to the incident, with Buckingham Palace indicating that Fulani’s ailment was “investigated immediately” and that the royal household subordinate progressive had “stepped speech from her honorary relation with contiguous effect,” suggests an consciousness that they cannot spend different blowout scandal.

Last year, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, told Oprah Winfrey successful an interrogation that earlier the commencement of their archetypal child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the royal household expressed “concerns” successful “conversations” with Harry “about however acheronian [Archie’s] tegument mightiness be.”

The mates besides accused the palace of maintaining a chummy narration with British tabloids, refusing to support Meghan against sum that was “inciting truthful overmuch racism” and not helping her erstwhile she was successful affectional distress. This environment, Harry and Meghan suggested, contributed to their decision successful 2020 to “step back” from their roles arsenic elder members of the royal household and to determination to North America. They present unrecorded successful California.

The narration betwixt the mates and the remainder of the royal household has been fraught ever since, though they all reunited earlier this year for the ceremonial of Harry and William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. But William and Catherine’s sojourn to the United States is apt to enactment the narration betwixt the brothers — and their spouses — backmost successful the spotlight. British media outlets person reported that Harry and William are not expected to spot each different portion there.

The timing is simply a challenge: Harry and Meghan are astir to release a Netflix documentary series that has raised questions astir whether the mates volition marque further allegations of racism wrong the royal family. The trailer for the series, Harry & Meghan, was released Thursday.

And adjacent week, they are besides scheduled to person an grant from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation. They were named recipients of the Ripple of Hope prize successful October and were celebrated by the foundation’s president for having the “moral courage” to publically telephone retired the “structural racism” wrong the monarchy.

“They went to the oldest instauration successful UK past and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t person structural racism wrong the institution; that they could not support a misunderstanding astir intelligence health,” said Kerry Kennedy, 1 of Robert Kennedy’s surviving children, according to Insider.

British media outlets seized connected an awkward parallel: Just a fewer days earlier, William and Catherine are acceptable to person their ain lawsuit with members of the Kennedy family, erstwhile they big the awards ceremonial for the Earthshot prize — which was inspired by John F. Kennedy’s celebrated moonshot code — successful partnership with the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Karla Adam contributed to this report.