CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – In countries with historic links to Britain, allegations by Prince Harry and Meghan that an anonymous member of the royal family had “concerns” about the darkening of the baby’s skin They have asked a difficult question: Do these countries really want to be so closely associated with Britain and its royal family anymore?
The interview was expected to reflect more trends in the royal family. It now appears to be dismantling regions within the Commonwealth’s “family” – an association of 54 countries, mostly British colonies, held together by historical ties. . For decades, Queen Elizabeth II has been a force behind the Commonwealth.
After the TV interview, which aired in the US on the eve of Commonwealth Day, Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia, cited it as another reason for the country’s constitutional ties with a monarchy. To break Britain.
“After the end of the queen’s reign, now is the time to say: Okay, we’ve gone beyond that water,” Turnbull told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Do we really want that whoever happens to be the head of state, king or queen of the UK, will automatically be our head of state? ”
The value of the Commonwealth has been debated in the past, with critics questioning whether countries and people who were once inhabited – and even oppressed – should remain in such a relationship with an elderly -settlement. The stated aim is to develop international relations, but Britain’s relationship with the members is scored with diplomatic messages and the legacy of empire. In a speech to mark Commonwealth Day on Monday, the queen spoke of a “spirit of unity.”
Charismatic royals like Harry and Meghan have previously been used to Commonwealth-related events by young people, businesses and voluntary organizations.
But their interview this week “opens our eyes even further” on the merits of the Commonwealth, wrote Nicholas Sengoba, a newspaper columnist in the former Ugandan colony.
He called “unresolved issues” in his country relating to the abuse of colonialism and questioned whether Commonwealth heads should remain “proud to eat dinner” with members of the British royal family, considering the allegations.
Meghan, who is biracial, was said in the interview that an unknown member of the royal family had raised “concerns” about her baby’s color with Harry when she was pregnant with her son, Archie, and that the palace did not help her when she had suicidal thoughts. Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday that the racist allegations by Harry and Meghan were “worrying”. and the royal family dealt with it privately.
Respond to the interview it was particularly wild in Africa. He was caught by one Twitter user in South Africa who wrote: “It’s Britain and the royal family. What did you expect? They opposed us for years. ”
Meghan and Harry traveled to South Africa in 2019, where their separation from the royal family became clearer and they even talked about living in Cape Town.
Mohammed Groenewald, whom they showed around at a mosque in Cape Town, was still skipping the interview, which was only shown in South Africa on Monday. But he said, more than anything, it inspired memories of “British colonial racism.”
“It comes out very clear,” he said.
In Kenya, an old colony where a young Princess Elizabeth was visiting in 1952 when she learned of her father’s death and thus becoming a queen, news of the interview has also begun to spread. appear in the country’s newspapers.
“We are very angry to see our African cousin harassed because she is black,” Sylvia Wangari, a Nairobi resident, commented on Meghan. She said the 1952 Kenyans showed “no racism, and remained here without us showing any discrimination.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to comment on the interview. He said many centers in Canada are built around organized colonialism and racism, including the Parliament, and said the answer was to listen to anti-discrimination Canadians until establish centers.
“The answer is not to throw out the institutions suddenly and start,” Trudeau said.
“I wish every member of the royal family every success, but my focus is on getting through this pandemic. If people want to talk later about constitutional change and move our system of government well, and they can have those conversations, but right now I don’t have those conversations. “
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, said the monarchy was not “beneficial to Canadians in their daily lives.”
“And with the systematic racism we’ve seen, it looks like he’s in that institution too,” he said.
The interview was not shown on TV in India, the most populous member country in the Commonwealth with 1.3 billion people, but it was still covered by the media and drew negative comments from the crowds towards the kingdoms.
“Behind that beautiful face are less beautiful thoughts.” said fashion writer Meenakshi Singh.
Lawyer Sunaina Phul said the Commonwealth “belongs to the royal family, of course, because it shows that they ruled so many places. I don’t know why we are still part of it. ”
Meghan and Harry’s complaints about racism indicate that it is time for her country to end its relationship with the royal family, a professor in Kingston, Jamaica said.
“It should mean for us to jump up and get rid of the queen as head of state,” said Carolyn Cooper. “It’s a prestigious institution. It relies on the millions of people who came in here to work on plantations. It is part of the whole legacy of colonialism and we must get rid of it. ”
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Related journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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