Princess Diana once smacked Prince Harry for mocking the accent of a Punjabi bus conductor, new book reveals
In the wake of the Oprah Winfrey interview, online trolls accused Prince Charles of being the unnamed member of the Royal Family — mentioned by Harry — who had made a crass remark about the possible colour of Meghan first baby.
It was a ludicrous insult to the future king, who had for years been trying to improve diversity in his household.
Indeed, now that he is King, Charles has asked Prince William to do the same.
A senior member of the Royal Household told me that making a racist comment ‘goes against everything The Boss [Charles] believes in. He believes diversity is the strength of our society.
‘It’s a bit rich coming from Harry, given [Prince Charles] had to defend him when he was forced to apologise for dressing up in a Nazi uniform and for filming himself making a racist remark to a fellow Sandhurst officer cadet from Pakistan back in 2009.’
In disgrace: Harry as a young boy with Princess Diana and Inspector Ken Wharfe
Nor was this the first time Harry had been admonished for what he now calls his ‘unconscious bias’. When he was a little boy, around eight years old, his mother took him and William for a ride on a London bus as a treat, arranged by her police protection officer Inspector Ken Wharfe.
On the bus, Diana had to tell Harry to stop mimicking the Sikh bus conductor’s pronounced Punjabi accent every time a passenger pressed the bell to get off. The conductor, a jovial chap wearing a bright yellow turban, was relaxed about Harry’s casual racism, but Diana was so mortified that she eventually told Ken Wharfe to abandon the trip.
Diana, Ken, William and Harry all got off at Green Park and Diana immediately smacked Harry and told him: ‘Don’t you ever do that again.’
The Duchess of Sussex during their interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, 2021
Afterwards, she made Harry write to Inspector Wharfe to apologise for his behaviour and for spoiling the day he had arranged for the boys. I have spoken to Wharfe, who confirms the incident, and I have also seen the letter, still in his possession, in which Harry jokes about the phrase he used.
As he was a child at the time, he can probably be forgiven — but the incident demonstrates that on one issue at least, Diana was in complete agreement with Charles. She would not tolerate any form of racism from their two sons.
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