Prince Harry Addressed The Royal Racism Story He Told Oprah & People Are Even More Confused

He's blaming the British press.

Prince Harry during his interview with ITV. Right: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their Oprah interview in 2021.

Prince Harry during his interview with ITV. Right: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their Oprah interview in 2021.

Senior Writer

Prince Harry says he never called the royal family racist during his interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, and instead he's pointing the finger at the British press.

Harry addressed his previous comments to Oprah in a new interview with ITV's Tom Bradby that aired Sunday, ahead of the release of his memoir Spare.

During their interview with Winfrey, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they had a conversation with a member of the royal family about how dark their unborn baby's skin would be while Markle was pregnant with Archie.

Harry later admitted he felt “awkward” and “shocked” by those discussions.

Harry never said who made those comments, but Winfrey did reveal that it was neither the late Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Phillip.

On Sunday, Bradby brought up that conversation, saying "In the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism."

Harry denied that claim.

"The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention 'they're racists'?" he said, as reported by People.

When Bradby probed again, Harry said he wouldn't describe what happened as racist, "not having lived within that family."

"The difference between racism and unconscious bias... the two things are different," Harry added.

"Once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that... otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."

People reports the Duke of Sussex also brought up a recent incident between Prince William's godmother, Lady Susan Hussey, and Ngozi Fulani, the head of U.K. charity Sistah Space.

During a charity event at Buckingham Palace in November 2022, Hussey had asked Fulani "what part of Africa" she was from.

That comment was labelled as racist, and Hussey resigned from her post with the royal family.

"What happened to Ngozi Fulani is a very good example of the environment within the institution," Harry said during his ITV interview.

He also expressed his and Markle's love for Hussey.

"We think she's great. I also know that she never meant any harm at all. But the response from the British press and from people online because of the stories that they wrote was horrendous, absolutely horrendous," he said as per the People report.

People on Twitter are questioning Harry's remarks he made in the interview.

One person says they feel baffled by Harry's back and forth on the conversation over racism and his son's skin colour.

Another Twitter user said Harry's "understanding of racism is *severely* lacking and he should work on this."

Harry's interview with Bradby was in part to promote his new memoir Spare, which has already started to leak.

In the book, Harry opens up about a fight with his brother Prince William that happened back in 2019 over Markle. The Duke of Sussex also spilled intimate details about his sex life.

Spare is scheduled for release in Canada and the U.S. on Tuesday.

  • Senior Writer

    Asymina Kantorowicz (she/her) is a Contributing Writer for Narcity Media. She has worked at Yahoo Canada, CTV News Vancouver Island, CTV News Channel, and CHCH News. She moved from Toronto to Victoria a few years ago and loves being close to the ocean.

An Ontario regional chair resigned amid claims he has a signed copy of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'

He says he's a "passionate historian" who owns many pieces of historical art and artifacts.

Judge quashes Alberta separation petition

Judge quashes Alberta separation petition in favour of First Nations

I recently moved away and I need to be honest about Canada's tipping culture

Having worked in restaurants, I've seen both sides 🫣

MP calls on Canadians to fill out census

MP calls on Canadians to fill out census as some express privacy concerns

What we know about hantavirus so far

What we know about hantavirus now that people linked to outbreak are back in Canada

Feds extending contracts of 750 pay centre workers

Government extends contracts of 750 pay centre workers to manage job cuts

Ontario monitoring 7 more people considered 'low risk' hantavirus contacts

Ontario monitoring 7 additional people considered 'low risk' hantavirus contacts