The British Royal Family: Race & Racism


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Curbside said:
Most African-Americans would read the brooch along the same lines as a traditional lawn jockey. Stating that it's meant to represent one of the Magi earns a serious side-eye.

I have no idea why the woman would wear something like that, since it seems to me that on such occasions you would want to seem as welcoming as possible, and not introduce even a whiff of prejudice.
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I have no idea what a traditional lawn jockey is.
 
:previous: Different countries histories and experiences do have a huge impact on understanding what could be offensive.

Thank you for explaining.
 
I googled around to find out more about Blackamore Jewelry (and art) and it seems there is quite a brisk market for these.

As to Princess Michael some folks are saying (elsewhere) it's representation of the Magi, others don't agree. It just seems unlikely she would wear that in order to cause offense. If it's something she wears every year during the Christmas season then it would seem she thinks it represents the Magi.

Anyone gone back and looked at her jewelry from previous years during Christmas season events?



LaRae
 
British Royal Christmas 2008-2017

As usual, there are people who only want to see the worst in Princess Michael when there’s actually nothing to suggest she’s antagonist other than gutter press gossip. It’s a brooch she clearly likes and decided to wear to a private family event. Had she not been photographed going in, we would never have seen it. There’s far too much offence taken these days at innocent things. It’s just a brooch. That’s all.
 
Even a brooch.
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People 'taking offence' on behalf of Ms Markle [whose reaction IF any, they cannot know] is beyond absurd.
It's a jewel for heaven sake.. and if it represents a 'Moor' they were slave owners themselves NOT slaves, which makes such an OTT reaction doubly ridiculous...

Had HRH worn a KKK white conical hat I can see that offence would have been both taken and intended, but a brooch !
 
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I totally agree. Whatever Marie Christine does is over examined and dragged out of all proportion. Always has been. It’s unfortunate because she’s probably one of the most intelligent royals, yet another reason that I cannot see she’d wear something to deliberately offend Meghan. What would she have to gain by doing such a thing anyway? Absurd.
 
Blatant disrespect.Ive not heard nice things about her so I'm not surprised.Out of all the times she could have worn that,it's now? Really?Yeah I'm going to side eye her hard
 
Here's the thing Spectator we don't know if she's worn this now (implied for the first time) or not....we rarely see what they wear for the Queen's private events. She could of been wearing this brooch for years during the Christmas season.

Why assume the worst about people? If she were a known racist then yeah I'd get it but otherwise I think it's wrong to jump to the worst conclusion.


LaRae
 
Spectator said:
Blatant disrespect.Ive not heard nice things about her so I'm not surprised.Out of all the times she could have worn that,it's now? Really?Yeah I'm going to side eye her hard
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How exactly is it blatant disrespect? I'm amazed how many people urge us not to believe gutter tabloid junk about other members of the family but in Marie-Christine's case? Anything goes it seems. HRH has always suffered at the hands of a xenophobic press determined to make her appear foreign to the British people and foster resentment. If anyone understands what it's like to be hated because of something out of your control, it's Princess Michael. Just think of the Nazi jibes she had to suffer endlessly in the 1980s, the constant depiction of her as some kind of valkyrie or the snide remarks made about her religion.

The Princess has said this herself and I quote: "The British don't trust Catholics. They see us as foreigners and they can be very suspicious of that". I think she's had a very hard time of things all told and yet she's never complained about it. If anyone has been the victim of racism it's Princess Michael and that's made it so much easier today for people to put 2 and 2 together and come up with 5. It's a gross misrepresentation of her character. Shameful.
 
Wasnt she the one that said she isn't racist because she tried to pass as mixed race or that the Africans should go back to their colonies...She has a history of saying stuff like this so why should I believe otherwise.this looks calculated to me and she comes off as very insensitive.i doubt Meghan noticed or cared anyways.
 
I don't know how these things look in Britain, but I can verify that anyone wearing a brooch like that in the United States would be seen as, at a minimum, extremely misguided. I gasped when I saw the picture (and I grew up in rural Arkansas, so it's not like I'm coming from a "liberal bubble"). It's not something you would expect to see here even on someone very elderly or very conservative.
 
Spectator said:
Wasnt she the one that said she isn't racist because she tried to pass as mixed race or that the Africans should go back to their colonies...She has a history of saying stuff like this so why should I believe otherwise.this looks calculated to me and she comes off as very insensitive.i doubt Meghan noticed or cared anyways.
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I suspected that incident would be raised. It's worth noting that there are two sides to every story and in that particular case, it was reported (again) in such a way as make Princess Michael out to be a villainess when all she had done was request that diners in a restaurant keep the noise level down. As anyone would in the circumstances in which she found herself. It was easy for the press to paint the diners as the injured party because (evidently) so many people are willing to believe the worst of her. But she is absolutely not a racist and as I previously said, has frequently been the victim of racism herself.

You can believe it was calculated all you like but that's a pretty serious allegation. Would you consider Queen Paola a racist too I wonder? She owns a similar Nardi brooch. Queen Frederika owned one, the Duchess of Windsor owned two. They were very fashionable in the 1960s and I suspect that Marie Christine has had this for a while and simply wished to wear it because she likes it. I can't see the Meghan even entered her mind. Why would she? The idea that Princess Michael was going to see Meghan rather than the rest of the family (a family she's been a part of for over 40 years) is laughable. Besides which, the brooch was pinned to her coat which would have been left in the cloakroom anyway. Meghan would never have seen it and even if she had, I very much doubt she'd consider Princess Michael a racist and be quite so quick to slam a woman who simply wore a brooch. In today's world, it seems everybody wants to be offended by something because there's a strange need to be a victim. Even if that means taking offence on someone else's behalf.

I very much doubt Meghan and Marie Christine were ever going to be close. And I doubt either lady is in the least bothered about such a silly narrative. If they met at all yesterday it would have been a brief five minute introduction and who knows? Instead of raking up nasty tabloid tittle tattle, feminist Meghan might have asked the Princess about her very successful career as a talented authoress. We just don't know. Which is what makes all of this so ridiculous. We were not in that restaurant in New York. We were not in the room at the Palace yesterday. The plain and simple fact is that so many people have a negative impression of HRH because of a long standing xenophobic campaign launched against her by the nastiest red tops going. Thank goodness Princess Michael has the common sense to laugh it all off.
 
Gaudete said:
I suspected that incident would be raised. It's worth noting that there are two sides to every story and in that particular case, it was reported (again) in such a way as make Princess Michael out to be a villainess when all she had done was request that diners in a restaurant keep the noise level down. As anyone would in the circumstances in which she found herself. It was easy for the press to paint the diners as the injured party because (evidently) so many people are willing to believe the worst of her. But she is absolutely not a racist and as I previously said, has frequently been the victim of racism herself.

You can believe it was calculated all you like but that's a pretty serious allegation. Would you consider Queen Paola a racist too I wonder? She owns a similar Nardi brooch. Queen Frederika owned one, the Duchess of Windsor owned two. They were very fashionable in the 1960s and I suspect that Marie Christine has had this for a while and simply wished to wear it because she likes it. I can't see the Meghan even entered her mind. Why would she? The idea that Princess Michael was going to see Meghan rather than the rest of the family (a family she's been a part of for over 40 years) is laughable. Besides which, the brooch was pinned to her coat which would have been left in the cloakroom anyway. Meghan would never have seen it and even if she had, I very much doubt she'd consider Princess Michael a racist and be quite so quick to slam a woman who simply wore a brooch. In today's world, it seems everybody wants to be offended by something because there's a strange need to be a victim. Even if that means taking offence on someone else's behalf.

I very much doubt Meghan and Marie Christine were ever going to be close. And I doubt either lady is in the least bothered about such a silly narrative. If they met at all yesterday it would have been a brief five minute introduction and who knows? Instead of raking up nasty tabloid tittle tattle, feminist Meghan might have asked the Princess about her very successful career as a talented authoress. We just don't know. Which is what makes all of this so ridiculous. We were not in that restaurant in New York. We were not in the room at the Palace yesterday. The plain and simple fact is that so many people have a negative impression of HRH because of a long standing xenophobic campaign launched against her by the nastiest red tops going. Thank goodness Princess Michael has the common sense to laugh it all off.
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Yes, I would consider all those people who wore similar blackamoor stuff racist and frankly its off putting to have posters tell posters of color that we are being silly or playing victims when raising concerns about a perceived slight. People have shared their honest reactions with you and you are dismissing us as ninnys.

Also, NO, NO, NO Marie Christine has NOT been a victim of racism. If you want to claim xenophobia, sure, but you are showing a fundamental misunderstanding of racism with your comments.

I do not have a negative impression of Princess Michael. Don't know anything about her. Peoples reactions to this have nothing to do with some press campaign against Princess Michael.

I am done arguing this. If you take the honest expressions of dismay at this from people of color and then accuse us of overreacting then there is nothing more to be said.
 
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How has HRH not been a victim of racism? From the moment she came to this country as Prince Michael's wife she has been pilloried because she is Austro-Hungarian and a Roman Catholic. "They don't like me because I speak differently, they don't like me because I act differently". Those are her own words on the subject. Take a look at how she was portrayed on Spitting Image throughout the 1980s. Look at the mock ups that appeared in old copies of the News of the World which gave her a Hitler moustache and used derogatory words for Germans in their headlines. She has been treated with suspicion and unkindness for years based on her nationality and if that isn't considered to be wrong then I don't have any sympathy for people branding the woman a racist.

I'll accept your point on xenophobia vs racism but let's approach this with common sense. Call it what you like, someone who has long been the victim of abuse based on her accent, nationality and religion is hardly like to go out of her way to take a racist dig at a black woman at a family Christmas party.

She wore a brooch. Presumably she wears it at Christmas because she takes it to represent Balthazar. I'm well versed in what racism is and I know spite when I see it too. This whole thing is being blown out of proportion by people who live to find offence in everything. I very much doubt that Meghan is in the least bothered and I certainly can't see that Her Royal Highness would be concerned that people are determined to see the worst in her. She's put up with it this far, why should 2017 be any different?
 
Gaudete said:
I suspected that incident would be raised. It's worth noting that there are two sides to every story and in that particular case, it was reported (again) in such a way as make Princess Michael out to be a villainess when all she had done was request that diners in a restaurant keep the noise level down. As anyone would in the circumstances in which she found herself. It was easy for the press to paint the diners as the injured party because (evidently) so many people are willing to believe the worst of her. But she is absolutely not a racist and as I previously said, has frequently been the victim of racism herself.

You can believe it was calculated all you like but that's a pretty serious allegation. Would you consider Queen Paola a racist too I wonder? She owns a similar Nardi brooch. Queen Frederika owned one, the Duchess of Windsor owned two. They were very fashionable in the 1960s and I suspect that Marie Christine has had this for a while and simply wished to wear it because she likes it. I can't see the Meghan even entered her mind. Why would she? The idea that Princess Michael was going to see Meghan rather than the rest of the family (a family she's been a part of for over 40 years) is laughable. Besides which, the brooch was pinned to her coat which would have been left in the cloakroom anyway. Meghan would never have seen it and even if she had, I very much doubt she'd consider Princess Michael a racist and be quite so quick to slam a woman who simply wore a brooch. In today's world, it seems everybody wants to be offended by something because there's a strange need to be a victim. Even if that means taking offence on someone else's behalf.

I very much doubt Meghan and Marie Christine were ever going to be close. And I doubt either lady is in the least bothered about such a silly narrative. If they met at all yesterday it would have been a brief five minute introduction and who knows? Instead of raking up nasty tabloid tittle tattle, feminist Meghan might have asked the Princess about her very successful career as a talented authoress. We just don't know. Which is what makes all of this so ridiculous. We were not in that restaurant in New York. We were not in the room at the Palace yesterday. The plain and simple fact is that so many people have a negative impression of HRH because of a long standing xenophobic campaign launched against her by the nastiest red tops going. Thank goodness Princess Michael has the common sense to laugh it all off.
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I never called her a racist though.I said it was disrespectful for her to wear that.And I really don't see what exactly is fashionable about it but oh well
 
You certainly implied that she was a racist. "She has a history of saying things like that". Although quite what she's "saying" with a brooch is beyond me.
 
IMO, though we are going off topic perhaps, Princess Michael is off a certain generation and social background that say things like "its like being back in the colonies" and wear brooches like this and don't think and don't mean anything by it. In that way she is not a racist and I don't believe she is, but I think she does use language (and brooches) others would avoid.

Back on topic, nice to see HM and Philip arrive as normal at Sandringham, unlike last year
 
Honestly, with Princess Michael, I don’t think she does or says those things to be racist, but it is insensitive and somehow she doesn’t understand that. It could have to do with the environment in which she grew up in (time and place), but regardless it is insensitive and not a good thing for a member of royal family in this day and age. I don’t really think she intended to offend anyone on purpose, but it shows, to an extent, ignorance of social issues. It’s different to wear and own a brooch like this in the 60s or 80s. It’s 2017, we’ve improved on racial issues since then.

Anyways, I’m glad the Queen and Prince Philip arrived to Sandringham. Without all the drama of last year.
 
It’s different to wear and own a brooch like this in the 60s or 80s. It’s 2017, we’ve improved on racial issues since then
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So [by extension] Most jewels utilising precious or semi precious stones should be forever put aside, given that we cannot know by whom they were mined [likely oppressed types of one sort or another].To wear them might give offence ! Likewise any designs/motifs deemed 'unacceptable' by TODAY'S standards..
Plastic fake jewels are equally bad [that material currently wrecking marine habitats/animals]..

WHERE will this PC madness end ?
 
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It’s a shame she’s had to pander to the SJWs on social media but at least it’s all over and done with now. I hope HRH enjoys Christmas with her family given the real stresses they’re facing this holiday season.
 
I don't think Princess Michael's brooch was the wisest of choices, as to me it certainly did seem racist and out dated, but I'll put this as being a generational factor as when Princess Michael was young, growing up blackamore brooches and other things that are disparaging towards ethnic minorities were seen as socially acceptable, and nobody batted an eyelid. Of course, many of the elderly have educated themselves about racism and no longer share such opinions; but some genuinely do not realise that such things have racist connotations now and don't normally mean them in a harmful way. Princess Michael has had her fair share of xenophobia and I'm sure she wouldn't have intended to wear the brooch for racist reasons. She's probably had it in her jewellery box for years and wore it without thinking. Of course, this is not to say that casual racism is acceptable, because all forms of racism are not - but it's just something to consider in defence. At least she has apologised and seems genuinely hurt by the accusations - that's the main thing. She has seen the error of her ways and probably will be more cautious in the near future.
 
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It's time to quit using age or generational differences as an excuse to be this insensitive, tactless and flat out racist. Doesn't matter either if she intended it to be racist or not. It's still racist, no matter how you look at it and I´m not going to feel sorry for her either. You have got to be living under the biggest rock to think that brooch was a good idea.
 
:previous: I agree and I said in my post that I wasn't excusing this move due to generation, but it was just something else to consider. If you read more of what I wrote you would tell that I was very much against her wearing of the brooch but was trying to see the argument from two sides.

I will repeat that I'm in no way for the usage of the brooch but I just wanted to highlight a broader perspective. I knew my post would get some backlash but I wanted to put it out there anyway.
 
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You are considering it though and you are most likely not alone in that. It´s still an excuse to make her wearing that brooch less of an issue because she didn´t know better and she didn´t mean any malice. She should have known better and there are no excuses anymore in the day and age of fast media. That is my POV.
 
:previous: I believe that I was more trying to highlight the differing sides to the argument as I was not actually considering it myself. Perhaps it did cross my mind a little to have typed the post, but that doesn't mean that I'm using it as an excuse because to me racism is one of the worst things to be accused of (not that I'm saying you're accusing me of it).
 
She’s apologised, she says she won’t be wearing it again. Quite unnecessary in my book but variety is the spice of life and perhaps now we should let sleeping dogs lie.
 
:previous: I agree. I just wanted to chime into the discussion as I had missed it earlier - and I was replying to responses. The main thing is she's apologised and has seen the error in her ways.
 
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