An audio clip has reportedly revealed John F. Kennedy’s niece praising Prince Harry and Meghan as “heroic” for their stance against “structurual racism” in the Royal Family.
In his latest TV interviews the Duke of Sussex had claimed he never accused his family of being racist but in December he and his wife accepted a gong at the glamorous RFK Ripple of Hope Gala in New York.
The award bestowed on the couple was for their “work on racial justice, mental health, and other social impact iniatives through their Archewell Foundation”.
Now the Daily Mail reports Kerry Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter and JFK’s niece, said in an interview with Spain’s El Confidencial that the pair were “heroic” in their stand against “structural racism” within Harry’s family.
According to the Daily Mail Mrs Kennedy told journalist Gustavo Egusquiza what Meghan and Harry did was to go to “the biggest institution, the longest standing institution in all of British history, and they said: “What we’re doing is wrong. We can’t have this structural racism within this institution.’
“I think they are very, very heroic to do that.”
Previously at the awared ceremony in New York where she was pictured with the beaming Sussexes, Kerry Kennedy, who is part of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation, said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were being honoured for “changing the narrative” on racial justice.
The former First Lady of New York state said in a statement: “The couple has always stood out for their willingness to speak up and change the narrative on racial justice and mental health around the world.
“They embody the type of moral courage that my father once called the ‘one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change’.”
During Sunday night’s ITV interview to promote his memoir Spare, Harry was told by presenter Tom Bradby: “in the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism”, to which Harry responded by saying “no I didn’t”, adding “the British press said that”.
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The Duke of Sussex has been accused of backtracking after denying that he and the Duchess of Sussex labelled the royal family racist in their Oprah Winfrey interview.
Harry said Meghan’s claims that an unnamed family member made “troubling” comments about the skin colour of his unborn son, Archie, related to “unconscious bias” not racism.
The claims in March 2021 left Oprah open-mouthed with shock and plunged the monarchy into crisis as the Windsors faced allegations of racism, but Harry again refused to name the royal allegedly involved.
During the ITV interview on Sunday night Bradby looked taken aback when Harry denied that he and Meghan had accused the royal family of racism.
The duke said: “Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?” After Bradby said the duchess claimed troubling comments were made about Archie’s skin colour, Harry said: “There was – there was concern about his skin colour.”
Asked if he would describe that as racist, the duke said: “I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family. The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different.
“But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
“Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”
After saying he would never talk about which family members had made the comments, Harry continued: “I mean what happened to Ngozi Fulani is a very good example of the environment within the institution, and why after our Oprah interview, they said that they were going to bring in a diversity tsar.
“That hasn’t happened. Everything they said was going to happen hasn’t happened.
“I’ve always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy – you have a responsibility, and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.
“So, the way that I’ve learnt it through my own experience and for what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, yes, you’re right the key word is concern, which was troubling.
“But you speak to any other mixed-race couple around the world, and you will probably find that the white side of the family have either openly discussed it, or secretly discussed, you know, ‘What are the kids gonna look like?’
“And that is part of a bigger conversation that needs to be had.”
At the time of the Oprah interview, the now-Prince of Wales defended the Windsors, saying: “We’re very much not a racist family.”
Meghan, the first mixed race person to marry a senior royal for centuries, told Oprah that a royal – not the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh – expressed concerns with Harry about how dark Archie’s skin tone might be before he was born.
At the time Her late Majesty the Queen issued a statement saying: “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
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