The Prince of Wales was pictured at Jesus House church in north London on Tuesday, on his first official visit following the bombshell Oprah interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which aired on Monday on ITV.
In conversation with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed that “concerns” had been raised by an unnamed member of the royal family regarding “how dark” their child’s skin might be. Harry also said that his father had stopped taking his calls after he’d expressed a desire to take a step back from his royal duties.
In his first public duty since the accusations, Prince Charles arrived at the NHS vaccine pop-up clinic wearing a face mask. He ignored a question from a reporter at the clinic when asked what he thought of the Oprah interview and was quickly ushered away by his team to greet staff at the centre.
One worker told Charles she was from Nigeria. “Oh fantastic, yes, I’ve been there. Lots of different ethnic groups. Do give them my kind regards next time you speak to them,” said the royal.
In the interview with Oprah, Harry described feeling “really let down" by his father. Both he and Meghan discussed their security concerns for their immediate family. “In those months when I was pregnant ... we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title,’” she said of Archie, before he was born. There were “also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” said Meghan.
Labour has demanded that Buckingham Palace end its silence over the no-holds-barred interview. “Allegations, accusations have been made – they obviously need to be looked at,” said shadow secretary of state for health and social care Jonathan Ashworth.
“I will always love him,” Harry said of this father, “but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.”
More than 11 million people watched the Oprah interview live on ITV, on 8 March.
There has been no response from Buckingham Palace over the allegations.
