Buckingham Palace is facing new allegations of racism and discrimination after documents showing its former hiring practices were resurfaced in a report by The Guardian.Â
According to the outletâs report, documents show that in 1968 the Palace noted âit was not, in fact, the practice to appoint coloured immigrants or foreignersâ to serve in clerical roles within the Palace, though people of color could work as domestic servants.Â
The practice of banning immigrants and people of color from those roles continued at least through the late 1960s. The Guardian reported that the Palace ârefused to answer questions about the ban and when it was revoked,â though the Palace added that âits records showed people from ethnic minority backgrounds being employed in the 1990s.â Before then, Buckingham said it didnât record the race of its employees.Â
Workplace equality laws havenât been enforced for Queen Elizabeth, the report said, because of exemptions, which have âmade it impossible for women or people from ethnic minorities working for her household to complain to the courts if they believe they have been discriminated against.âÂ
The Palace said there was a âseparate process for hearing complaints related to discriminationâ though more information wasnât provided to The Guardian.Â
The resurfacing of the documents comes months after the bombshell interview Meghan Markle and Prince Harry did with Oprah in which they accused the Royal family and Palace of racism. The couple said one of the Royal family members questioned what the color of their son Archieâs skin would be before his birth. They wouldnât name the Royal, but said it was not Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.Â
The interview and allegations sent waves for the Palace, though some werenât surprised to hear about the hiring practices or even the the Duke and Duchess of Sussexâs accusations.
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