The event on Tuesday was hosted by Queen Camilla to promote awareness of domestic violence.
The organisation said their founder, Ngozi Fulani, had been invited to the Palace on that day and had spoken with a member of the royal household.
A transcript of the conversation was published online in which a Palace staff member, attributed as Lady SH, was quoted as asking Ms Fulani where she was “really from” several times.
Shortly afterwards, the Palace confirmed a member of the household had resigned and apologised after “unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments”.
The Palace staff member was quickly named as Lady Susan Hussey, one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s closest confidantes and Prince William’s godmother.
Mr Afzal also attended the Palace reception (Image: BBC)
Ms Fulani represented Sistah Space at the event (Image: Twitter/@Sistah_Space)
Royal Family ‘has no place in modern Britain’ GMB guest rages after race row
On Good Morning Britain, hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway discussed the remarks made by Prince William’s 83-year-old godmother in which she refused to believe a black attendee to a charity event was British.
One Good Morning Britain guest fumed the Royal Family “has no place in modern Britain” during the ITV show.
But British solicitor and former chief Crown prosecutor, Nazir Afzal, took to Twitter on Thursday to say he had also attended the Palace reception hosted by the Queen Consort.
He wrote: “I was at the Buckingham Palace reception at which Lady Hussey questioned the heritage of a brilliant DV [domestic violence] expert Ngozi Fulani.
“She only asked me my heritage once and seemed to accept my answer – Manchester currently! Racism is never far away though.”
Ms Fulani, speaking in the aftermath of Lady Susan Hussey’s resignation, called the encounter “abuse”.
Who is Lady Susan Hussey?
Lady Susan Hussey was a close friend of Queen Elizabeth II, and had been since Prince Andrew’s birth in 1960.
Known as one of the Queen’s Ladies in Waiting, Lady Susan served the Queen for more than 60 years.
Her duties included
- Responding to letters
- Aiding the Queen with daily activities
- Helping the Queen bathe and dress
Lady Susan was a key staff member part of the so-called ‘HMS bubble’ during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She accompanied the Queen during Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
Lady Susan was married to the late BBC chairman Marmaduke Hussey and is the fifth and youngest daughter of the 12th Earl Waldegrave and Mary Hermione, Countess Waldegrave.
She is godmother to Prince William, and has been dubbed “Number 1 head girl” at Buckingham Palace.
In the Queen’s 2013 Birthday Honours, Lady Susan was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).
Lady Hussey served both the Queen and Charles (Image: Getty)
She told the BBC: “It was like an interrogation. That’s the only way I can explain it.”
Ms Fulani, speaking earlier to the Independent, said the encounter was “bigger than one individual. It’s institutional racism”.
She added: “I was in shock after it happened and anybody who knows me knows I don’t take this kind of nonsense.
But she said she did not intend to “vilify” Lady Hussey, commenting she believed the Palace aide’s resignation was an opportunity for education missed.
The Duke and Duchess vocally criticised the Royal Family since they stepped away from royal life (Image: Getty)
But the row comes just days ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle receiving an award for “exemplary leaders” based on their comments on alleged racism in the Royal Family.
Kerry Kennedy, who heads up the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation which is awarding the Ripple of Hope prize to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, called the couple “heroic” in their efforts to stand up to “structural racism within the institution” of the monarchy.
The Duke and Duchess have vocally criticised the Royal Family since they stepped away from royal duties in 2020.
Ms Kennedy, who is the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and the niece of former US President John F. Kennedy, told Spanish outlet El Confidencial: “They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution; that they could not maintain a misunderstanding about mental health.”
Source: EXPRESS CO UK
