“I think we live in a great country, a great society, full of opportunity, where people of any background can get on in life,” said Indian-Origin UK Home Secretary Priti Patel when asked if she thought that the press coverage on the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was racist.
“I certainly haven't seen that through any debates or commentary or things of that nature,” said Patel about the press coverage on Meghan Markle, an American, who was formerly an actor.
This, however, is not the first time Patel has indulged in racial gate-keeping. Belonging to the Conservative party, Patel favours tougher prison sentences for foreign criminals.
It is interesting to note that Patel, a woman of colour and daughter of immigrants who cites Margaret Thatcher as her political hero should make a statement dismissing racial press coverage against Meghan by playing up the 'great country' angle.
Patel as cabinet minister has voted for reduced welfare benefits, for a stricter asylum system, a hostile environment, stronger enforcement for immigration rules and against equal gay rights. Analysts have often said that Patel's cabinet presence in a conservative cabinet itself is a smokescreen.
Harry and Meghan's wedding featured preacher Michael Curry and a black gospel choir. While covering their nuptials, some of the press called it a 'modern, diverse wedding for a modern, diverse couple', one that was 'nudging the British royal family into a new era.'
Meghan has been time and again, attacked with negative press over same instances, in comparison to her sister-in-law Kate Middleton. When Meghan cradled her pregnant bump, a British media organisation wondered out loud if it was an act of pride, vanity or new age bonding technique. But when Kate was cradling her bump the same organisation said, “Kate tenderly cradles baby bump.”
When Prince William and Kate decided to spend Christmas with her parents, a headline read, “Carole wins granny war! Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will spend second private Christmas with Middleton family.” Whereas, when Prince Harry and Meghan decided to spend the holidays with her mother, a headline read, “Doesn't the Queen deserve better than this baffling festive absence?” And while some of the British media have been ravishing Kate Middleton with praise over her sense of fashion, when Meghan Markle guest-edited the British Vogue, a columnist wrote a piece titled, 'We Brits prefer true royalty to fashion royalty.'
Meghan's family feud has also been brought up on several occasions, with some of the media calling her a heartless daughter who disowned her father Thomas Markle, who has embarrassed her on the international stage more than once. Her father, in a television interview, has paraded all of her childhood letters and photographs and said that at her first wedding, guests were given marijuana bags as parting gifts.
It is hence baffling to see that Patel said something like, “I certainly haven't seen that through any debates or commentary or things of that nature.”
Even if it was to be granted that Patel's busy schedule might not have allowed her to look at all the press coverage around the Duchess of Sussex, the idea that you should prove and show racism is a wrong one. Besides, it is truly forbidding for someone in Patel's position to deny racism so blatantly. Especially, when one takes into consideration that it is her government department that overlooks policy areas of immigration and crime.
Patel a pro-Brexiteer is in more likelihood, a useful tool in a largely Conservative cabinet, who has been appointed by PM Johnson who has compared burqa-wearing Muslim women to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle dropped the bombshell announcement that they will unprecedented crisis within the royal household, The 93-year-old monarch Queen Elizabeth II held a face-to-face discussion with her grandsons Harry, William and their father Prince Charles. Post the dialogue, in which Meghan joined from Canada in a phone call, the monarch has agreed to grant a transition period to the couple and said that she understands their decision.
There are, however, fears that the couple might resort to a kind of tell-all interview unless an acceptable solution is found, which would result in a further embarrassment for the royal household.
On their official Sussex Royal website, the couple has laid out their intention to assume a more financially independent role while supporting the Queen and the monarchy from a distance.