The Queen signs her annual Commonwealth day message at Windsor Castle in March. Photograph: WPA/Getty images
The Queen signs her annual Commonwealth day message at Windsor Castle in March. Photograph: WPA/Getty images
Thu 3 Jun 2021 12.33 EDT
Last modified on Thu 3 Jun 2021 12.34 EDT
We now know that the Queenâs courtiers banned âcoloured immigrants or foreignersâ serving in clerical roles until at least the late 1960s, and that her household took great pains to be exempt from anti-discrimination legislation. There must have been concerns that the lack of black faces in the palace could be turned into legal action. Even devotees of royalty raised voices suggesting, albeit very gently, that this situation should change. One of the most flattering of the Queenâs biographers, Elizabeth Longford, commented in 1983 that âpeople are still hoping that a post might be found for someone from her black Commonwealth, high up on her permanent staffâ.