The comments were made during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London, where volunteers were filling lorries with aid to support humanitarian relief efforts.
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'Racist' comments
The second in line to the throne said to the volunteers: ‘It’s very alien to see this in Europe. We are all behind you.' He added that he wanted to do more to help: ‘We feel so useless.’
William’s comments caused massive backlash on social media with users calling out the Prince for being ‘racist’ and ignoring the history of the British colonial empire, as well as recent conflicts in Europe.
Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid wrote:
Prince William says conflict is ‘very alien’ to Europe, unlike Asia & Africa.
How do you have a 1,000 year history of colonialism, a literal 100 year war, launch 2 World Wars, allow multiple genocides, & bomb a dozen nations since 9/11 alone—yet make this type of a statement.
Author Omid Scobie wrote that he was ‘unsurprised to see backlash’ against the Prince:
Europe has seen some of the bloodiest conflicts in the past two centuries—Balkans, Yugoslavia, Germany and Kosovo to name a few. But sure, let’s normalise war and death in Africa and Asia.
There have also been calls for William to apologise.
Prince William’s comments are deeply offensive. He must apologise
— Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (@SholaMos1) March 9, 2022
This future King of England parrots racist rhetoric shamelessly
His caucacity after public backlash at Western media humanising White pain while dehumanising Black/Brown pain in #UkraineWar is a slap to our faces https://t.co/2oR1weXASr
William and Kate are scheduled to visit the Caribbean for the first time later this month, including countries such as Jamaica, Bahamas, and Belize.
Is he the unnamed 'senior royal'?
His comments have sparked speculation that it was he who asked Meghan Markle about the skin colour of her and Prince William’s son Archie, as revealed in their Oprah interview.
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Political strategist Atima Omara wrote:
More reason as to why I just continue to believe it was Prince William who asked Harry what the skin colour of his nephew was gonna be… not saying it couldn’t be other family members but when Meghan said it could be ‘damaging’ to the person who said it.
Author Morgan Jerkins wrote:
Prince William’s comments about Africa are so ridiculously ignorant that he is not doing himself any favours of dodging those rumours that he’s the one in the royal family who asked about Archie’s skin colour.
