Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu has been forced to delete her tweet after falsely claiming “racist” statues were present in a photograph released by the Royal Family. Posting on Twitter, she had shared an image of Queen Camilla on the day of the Coronation as she smiled whilst wearing her crown in the Green Drawing Room in Buckingham Palace. Behind Camilla stand the ‘weeping women candelabra’ which are historic ornaments that reside in the Palace.
Retracting her original statement, the activist tweeted: “I stand corrected if these are not Blackamoor statues behind Camilla as I thought but of Weeping Women.
“Bottom line, if there are Blackamoor items or anything of historical racist depiction in the Palaces it should be removed, placed in a museum so history doesn’t repeat itself.”
Dr Shola added: “Deleted my previous tweet for the avoidance of doubt. Just to be clear my outrage if it were true still stands.”
Blackamoor statues often depict men from African descent as a servant, with the figures often carrying something such as candles or a tray.
The style is now viewed by some as racist and culturally insensitive, but pieces are still produced, particularly in Venice, Italy.
In 2017, Princess Michael of Kent sparked outrage after wearing a blackamoor brooch which depicted the bust of an African person wearing a crown and jewels.
While Princess Michael apologised for “causing offence” the incident has resurfaced as a result of the Netflix documentary ‘Harry and Meghan’.
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Prince Harry referred to “unconscious bias” within the Royal Family and how he had not been aware of his own “bias” before meeting Meghan.
The Duke of Sussex whose wife Meghan Markle is of mixed heritage outlined in his biography ‘Finding Freedom’ that she was offended by the brooch.
Princess Michael wore the brooch whilst attending the Queen’s annual lunch on December 20.
