The most explosive element of the Sussexes’ highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey was the claim that someone within the royal household had “concerns” over how dark-skinned the couple’s son Archie might be.
While Winfrey later clarified neither the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh were behind the remark, Meghan also suggested their son was denied the title of prince because of his mixed race.
The interview points to a larger issue of racism in the British monarchy, both contemporary and historical.
When the couple began dating, some hoped it would usher in a period of royal renewal. Meghan, who has an African-American mother and a white father, was presented as a symbol of the modern, inclusive monarchy. These hopes were gradually dashed with consistently negative media coverage, including unfavourable comparisons with Meghan’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
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The Ottawa Citizen’s longtime editorial cartoonist Alan King once described his craft as the “scruffy offspring of art and journalism.”
King was a master of that unruly child, both entertaining and maddening readers during his 17 years as lead cartoonist. His richly illustrated ink drawings regularly skewered politicians, pomposity and hypocrisy.
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Try refreshing your browser, or Obit: Alan King was an editorial cartoonist, self-taught artist, classical pianist Back to video
“Editorial cartoons,” he once wrote, “speak louder, more sharply, and with less forethought than most forms of newspaper commentary: It is their glaring defect and great advantage.”