The late Queen Elizabeth II reportedly offered her Black equerry to “help” Meghan Markle “feel comfortable” as she acclimated to palace life.
According to Omid Scobie’s book “Endgame,” the palace suggested that the late monarch’s Ghanaian-born household cavalry officer, Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah, step in to help Markle, who is biracial, adjust to her new royal duties.
“Though a charming and intelligent man, it stood out like a sore thumb to Meghan and her friends,” Scobie writes.
Markle and her friends were “insulted,” per the US Sun, when the palace suggested “the Queen’s attendant” assist her — which Scobie notes was likely due to a “lack of Black or other non-white staff” in “relevant senior roles.”
“I doubt Kate was offered an equerry [for guidance],” the author claims a friend told the Duchess of Sussex.
Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8, 2022, at age 96.
Per Scobie and previous reports, Markle was initially assigned Lady Susan Hussey to help her adjust to her new royal duties.
However, the “Suits” alum, 42, later “turned down the offer” for Hussey to be her helping hand, prompting the palace — who claimed to have “bent over backward” for Markle — to suggest Lieutenant Colonel as a mentor.
In the April 2022 book “The Palace Papers,” author Tina Brown also notes the palace’s supposed disconnect with Markle when it came to who they suggested to help the actress adjust.
“The glaring but unspoken problem was that none of these experienced Palace hands were women of color,” Brown writes in an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail.
“As for the lady-in-waiting the Queen had offered for support, what on earth did the eighty-year-old Lady Susan Hussey have of use for a thirty-eight-year-old biracial American actress trying to navigate the treacherous Palace system?”
For more Page Six you love …
Hussey eventually stepped down from her royal duties in 2022 after making “unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments” to a Black domestic abuse campaigner.
The latest claims in Scobie’s book come after an accidental Dutch misprint of “Endgame” named Kate Middleton and King Charles III as two royals accused of making “racist” remarks.
Markle claimed in a March 2021 sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey that unnamed individuals had raised concerns over the skin color of her and Prince Harry’s then-unborn son, Archie.
“About how dark your baby is going to be?” Winfrey asked at the time, to which Markle said, “Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.”
Neither Middleton, 41, nor Charles have publicly responded to the claims.
While they have dodged reporters’ questions about the bombshell allegation, a source claimed last week that Prince William and Charles, 75, were meeting to discuss potential legal action following the misprint.
“Discussions are being had, and we’ll continue those discussions this week,” a source told the Telegraph.
“Conversations will be had and decisions made with care and time and professionalism rather than rushed over a weekend.”
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Page
