Prince William is back in the hot seat. Britons are accusing the Prince of Wales of “performative PR” after he denounced the racism of a now-viral letter to a youth football team despite staying silent amidst his estranged family’s claims of racism within the palace.
According to Newsweek, sports fans have been harassing the coaches and young players of Alpha United Juniors in Bradford, England, with “racist comments and threats of violence” during matches. The team is asking for their local football association to step in.
“Racism and abuse has no place in our society. Abhorrent behaviour of this nature must stop now and all those responsible be held to account,” William privately wrote to the team. England’s Football Association, of which William is the president, leaked the letter to the media.
While some are commending the prince for standing up to racism, others are labeling him a hypocrite. Many argue that if what he wrote is true, then William would have done a better job protecting and aiding his sister-in-law, Meghan Markle.
“The problem with William is that he lacks real credibility on race, racism, and race relations because he did not tackle the racism under his own roof, in his own family,” author Shola Mos-Shogbamimu told Newsweek.
She added, “So who in their right mind would believe him when he says racism has no place in our society — we know that. But we also know our society is built on racism. It’s built on the foundations of white supremacy which he and his family have failed to dismantle.”
Twitter user @Lorna_TVeditor compared William’s on-and-off silence to a “pick ‘n’ mix” in a candy store, noting you can’t both deflect and defend racism. Her tweet has racked up more than 120K views.
“Every time Prince William publicly defends footballers who are racially abused, but publicly stays silent on the racism his brother’s wife and children face, he opens himself up to very valid accusations of performative PR; anti-racism isn’t a pick ‘n’ mix in a sweetie shop,” she tweeted.
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This isn’t the first time the monarchy’s colonial past has come back to haunt William. Meghan aside, it’s no secret that institutional racism runs deep in British royal history.
In 2019, the Guardian discovered documents banning “ethnic minority immigrants and foreigners” from holding non-housekeeping jobs within Buckingham Palace. This was in effect until at least the 1960s.
Then in 2012, he and wife Kate Middleton were photographed being carried on thrones during their visit to the Solomon Islands.
“I think Prince William lacks credibility,” Mos-Shogbamimu continued, “and the only way he can start to gain any legitimacy on having grounds to speak on racism having no place in our society is for him to clean up his house first of all. I mean, he’s going to be our next king.”
William still has yet to address Meghan’s claims.
