King Charles was reportedly unaware that his daughter-in-law Meghan Markle was biracial upon meeting her, a new book has claimed.
Author Christopher Andersen details Markle’s first meeting with the royals in his book, “The King: The Life of Charles III.” Prince Harry first introduced Markle to Charles and Camilla in 2016 after Harry’s trip to Botswana. Charles reportedly remarked how the former “Suits” star looked like Kate Middleton’s sister, Pippa.
“At the time, Prince Charles had no idea that Harry’s new girlfriend was biracial,” Andersen wrote.
“Not that it would have mattered at all, of course,” Charles reportedly told an American friend. “But no, I didn’t realize that until later.”
Andersen said Charles found Markle to be “completely charming” and “absolutely delightful.”
The book — which discusses an alleged history of racism in the royal family — comes after Markle and Harry made their own claims of racism against family members.
The author claims that the late Queen Elizabeth was not prejudiced, although her late husband Prince Philip used the N-word 50 years prior.
The book stated: “For her part, the Queen, who experienced countless up-close-and-personal encounters with people of all races, ethnicities, and religions during her record-breaking reign, appeared utterly devoid of prejudice.”
“Not once had she ever been heard to make a racially insensitive comment,” the author noted.
“The same could not be said for Charles, although his gaffes were rare — like the time he told a writer of Guyanese descent that she didn’t ‘look like’ she was born in the British city of Manchester, presumably because she was black and wore dreadlocks,” Andersen said.
As for the Duke of Edinburgh: “Like others of his generation and his class,” Andersen said. “Philip had used the N-word with some frequency — although, said a retired member of the Balmoral household staff, ‘I haven’t heard him use the word in a very long time — at least not since the 1970s.’ “
“Nonetheless, Philip, like Charles, warmed to Meghan immediately,” the writer scribed.
Markle was born in Los Angeles and grew up with a Caucasian father and an African-American mother.
In the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview last year, the couple expressed that a member of the royal family had concerns over how dark their son Archie’s skin would be.