The United Kingdom has become considerably more diverse over the course of the past 73 years.
But not surprisingly, it seems that King Charles III has spent most of his life in a lily-white bubble, far from the rapidly-changing populace over which he would one day rule.
It’s not surprise, of course, that Charles has lived an unfathomably sheltered life, but apparently, the new monarch is even more out of touch than previously thought.
Case in point, dude apparently had no idea Meghan Markle was biracial until someone told him.
Now, it’s possible that Charles has encountered so few people of color that he simply assumes everyone he meets is every bit as WASP-y as he is.
But there’s also a chance that the king is engaging in some sort of old school, 1990s liberal “post-racial society” charade by pretending that he’s so enlightened that he just doesn’t notice things like race.
Whatever the case, it seems unlikely that Chuck would meet his son’s future wife without receiving a full dossier from his staff or at least doing a quick Google search.
In other words, the king is probably full of it, and he knew everything about Meghan long before they ever shook hands (or she curtsied to him, or whatever the protocol is).
But whatever the case, after meeting Meghan, Charles insisted to an American friend that he had no idea she was biracial.
“At the time, Prince Charles had no idea that Harry’s new girlfriend was biracial,” author Christopher Andersen writes in his new memoir of Charles.
“‘Not that it would have mattered at all, of course,’ Charles told an American friend. ‘But no, I didn’t realize that until later.’”
“It doesn’t matter, of course, but I felt the need to comment on it, anyway.” -(Charles, basically)
Charles is giving off major “dad from Get Out” vibes in this story.
Anyway, the Queen was apparently more enlightened on racial matters than one might expect — but the same could not be said of the men in her family.
“For her part, the Queen, who experienced countless up-close-and-personal encounters with people of all races, ethnicities, and religions during her record-breaking reign, appeared utterly devoid of prejudice,” Andersen writes.
“Not once had she ever been heard to make a racially insensitive comment,” the author continues.
“The same could not be said for Charles, although his gaffes were rare—like the time he told a writer of Guyanese descent that she didn’t ‘look like’ she was born in the British city of Manchester, presumably because she was black and wore dreadlocks.”
And then there’s the late Prince Philip, who — yeah, apparently wasn’t such a great guy.
“Like others of his generation and his class,Philip had used the N-word with some frequency—although, said a retired member of the Balmoral household staff, ‘I haven’t heard him use the word in a very long time—at least not since the 1970s,’” Andersen writes.
“Nonetheless, Philip, like Charles, warmed to Meghan immediately.”
In her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan revealed that an unnamed member of the royal family expressed concerns about the skin tone of the Duchess’ unborn child.
Charles and Philip have long been the prime suspects in that sordid little affair — so if they’re both huge fans of Meghan’s, they certainly have an odd way of showing it.