Royal Aide Resigns Over Racist Remarks at Buckingham Palace Reception

Facts

• Lady Susan Hussey, a long-serving royal aide and former lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II, has resigned and apologized after a social media post surfaced reporting that she repeatedly asked a Black British charity boss where she was "really" from. Lady Hussey also allegedly moved the guest's hair out of the way of her name badge.
• A spokesperson said on Wednesday that Lady Hussey had left after making the "unacceptable and deeply regrettable" remarks to Ngoni Fulani at a reception in Buckingham Palace. According to Fulani's Twitter post, the royal aide repeatedly questioned "what part of Africa" the guest — who works for a domestic abuse group — was from.
• UK PM Rishi Sunak waded into the ensuing debate on Thursday, saying "we must confront it [racism]" whenever we see it. He refused to clarify whether his comments were directly related to recent developments at Buckingham Palace.
• Susan Hussey, 83, served as a royal courtier for over six decades until her resignation this week. She was dubbed "Number One Head Girl" and is godmother to the first in line to the throne, Prince William.
• Since posting on social media, Fulani — who works for support organization Sistah Space, that helps women of African and Caribbean heritage affected by abuse — has described the incident as a "violation."
• The ongoing news storm around the comments has also cast a shadow over the visit of Prince William and Kate Middleton to the US. While watching a basketball game in Boston this week, the pair were met with some boos from the crowd, supposedly because of the event.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Sky News, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, and NBC Boston.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Spectator (UK). Buckingham Palace has acted with exceptional cruelty in dismissing a loyal octogenarian over an innocently intended comment. Most pensioners are unfamiliar with woke etiquette or the standards of 21st century sensitivity to diversity — Susan Hussey is not a racist and has never knowingly offended anyone in her long life.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The New Statesman. Although Lady Hussey's questions were not necessarily racist, they were certainly loaded. Being elderly is not an excuse for insensitivity — the Queen would have recognized how alarming the statements made were. Too often in modern Britain the phrase, "Where are you from?" is asked in the wrong way for the wrong reasons. Lady Hussey's resignation was justified.