Omid Scobie devoted a chapter in Endgame to the Windsorsā tricky relationship with any conversations or activism involving race or racism. He details his attempts to get Buckingham Palace to say something (anything) about Black Lives Matter in 2020 and how even straight reporting on the Windsorsā racial blindspots are enough to get reporters blacklisted. He points out how difficult it must have been for the Duchess of Sussex to try to step into those all-white spaces, much less try to work within those spaces and thrive. Throughout the book, Scobie mentions (but does not overemphasize the point) that the queen consort is very anti-woke, very closed-minded in how she understands the modern world. That includes Camillaās very own blackamoor art.
Racial bias in the palace: I, too, have experienced and witnessed some of that ignorance and bias. Like the time a seasoned aide whoācommenting on my clear English accentātold me, āI never expected you to speak the way you do.ā Or the staff member who casually called a less developed part of London we were visiting on a royal engagement āthe ghetto.ā Or the senior courtier who hollered, āOh my God. What a legend!ā when they heard that a photographer had commented that Meghan should ābe more Black and wear some African garb . . . let her Afro outā at an engagement linked to Nelson Mandela.
Camillaās reaction to her friend Jeremy Clarksonās vile screed against Meghan: ā…Their continued silence is deafening and, perhaps more tellingly, exposes some of the institutionās noxious ways and meansā¦ Camilla, the Queen Consort, was hobnobbing with [Clarkson] at a Christmas party in central London. The pair consider each other dear friends, and, despite public pressure on Camilla to condemn his column and sexually violent language, she remained quiet on the issue. She wouldnāt, I was told by a Palace source, ābe wading into any culture wars.ā
Camillaās blackamoor art: Take a peek into Camillaās Ray Mill House in Wiltshire, and you canāt miss the giant blackamoor statue in the entrance hallāa four-foot muscular Black man holding a lightbulb and lampshade high into the sky. A Palace source says it has been removed āin recent years.ā It was a similar tale for blackamoor sconces hanging on the walls at Clarence House. When the Google Arts & Culture platform gave the world a look inside Charlesās London residence in 2018, eagle-eyed netizens spotted the offending items and officials quickly took them down (both the photos and from the residence).
[From Omid Scobieās Endgame]
Camilla would not ābe wading into any culture warsā… regarding her dear friendās despicable rant (printed in a major tabloid) about wanting to strip Meghan and parade her through the streets. Thatās not a culture war, itās human decency to say āwow, that is not okay.ā Itās not part of any culture war to say that Black women shouldnāt be denigrated and subjected to such violently racist rhetoric. As for Camillaās blackamoor art and the art which was exhibited at Clarence Houseā¦ yeah, Camilla is basically the Windsorsā in-house MAGA lunatic.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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