Rather, I d wager, it s the true extent of the house of Windsor s wealth. Because, not a soul outside of the Queen s family has any real understanding of the full breadth of the clan s personal holdings and just how much money they have socked away. (Their family wealth that is, and not the places, art and priceless jewellery that are the property of the Crown.) This week the question of the royal house s finances was shunted back into the uncomfortable spotlight courtesy of recalcitrant former Firm employees Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It has been a seismic, dizzying seven days which has seen them take a metaphorical sledgehammer to the mystique of the whole royal game, raising charges of shocking racism and cruelty inside palace walls. Among the issues raised was how the family supports various members.
Facing mounting pressure to respond to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle s shocking sit down with Oprah, brother Prince William told reporters Thursday that the royals are not a racist family.
But the rebuke from the second in line to the throne did little to calm the growing outrage from Black Brits, and those living within the Queen s Commonwealth Trust a political association representing the former colonial empire. We ve been saying that institutionalized racism is a problem. We ve been saying it for a very long time, said Renee Alleyne of London.
For the 2.4 billion nationals of the Commonwealth s 54 countries, the revelations invoke a painful legacy of British imperialism throughout Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific.