Prince William and Princess Kate have arrived in Boston in order to participate in the Earthshot Prize, an environmental awards ceremony that is scheduled for Friday. Their visit comes in the wake of a race row at Buckingham Palace, with the couple seemingly willing to distance themselves from the scandal.
"We are both looking forward to spending the next few days learning about the innovative ways the people of Massachusetts are tackling climate change," Prince William said.
Representatives of the White House confirmed that the royal couple will meet with President Joe Biden.
Hours before Prince William and his spouse landed in Boston, his godmother Lady Susan Hussey stepped down from her current role as Lady of the Household at Buckingham Palace over allegations of racism. A Kensington Palace spokesperson commented on the row, by saying that "racism has no place in our society."
Lady Susan Hussey, who used to serve as Queen Elizabeth II's lady-in-waiting for more than 60 years, approached Ngozi Fulani, a Black British activist and the head of Sistah Space, a charity that supports victims of domestic abuse, and inquired what part of Africa she was from.
The incident took place at a reception Tuesday hosted by Queen Consort Camilla. Fulani was born in the UK and regarded these comments as deeply insulting. She shared the full exchange with Hussey in Twitter, and described her remarks as a "violation."
racism in Buckingham
Representatives of Buckingham Palace acted immediately and labeled Hussey's comments as "unacceptable and deeply regrettable." The former lady-in-waiting had to step down from her current role as Lady of the Household.
This is not the first incident involving allegations of racism in Buckingham Palace. A year ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle claimed that one representative of the royal family was concerned about the potentially dark skin of their firstborn child. They refused to disclose the details. According to media speculations, the person in question could be incumbent King Charles III, then Prince Charles. The royals have categorically dismissed the allegations, calling them "fiction," while a Buckingham palace insider said the following:
"I think Charles would be very irritated and annoyed by this sort of claim because the last thing he is, is racist. If he made the remark I’m sure it was in a perfectly innocent way, as anyone would ask about the birth of a child and how the baby would look. I think he would be surprised someone could attribute such a sentence to him."