Princess Michael of Kent wears racist brooch to lunch with Meghan Markle

[Tanuki]

http://www.elle.com/culture/a14485306/princess-michael-of-kent-racist-brooch/?src=nl&mag=elm&list=nl_elm_news&date=122217

"When Meghan Markle attended the Queen's Christmas luncheon this week at Buckingham Palace, she joined about 50 members of the royal family at the gathering, from Prince William and Kate Middleton, to Prince Harry's cousins Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. And while the former actress mingled with extended members of her fiancé's family, not all first impressions were as to be expected.


Princess Michael of Kent—wife of Prince Michael of Kent, Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin—was also there, wearing an incredibly offensive brooch on her coat while arriving to the palace with her husband. The accessory is a piece of blackamoor jewelry—an ebony figurine which, despite the ornate gold clothing, is usually depicted in a positions of servitude, such as carrying plates of food or waiting on someone.


Some might argue that European renditions of blackamoor art depicted black figures as noblemen, but mostly this isn't actually the case. These blackamoor figures, frequently spotted in Italian art and European jewelry from the Middle Ages onwards, were a response to the European encounter of "the Moors"—darker skinned people from North Africa and the Middle East. The gaudy figures are arguably meant to emphasize the strange and exotic "otherness" of people with dark skin, fetishizing these races and glorifying their enslavement. It is this emphasis of "Otherness," which is exactly what Meghan Markle herself railed against in her essay for ELLE UK, entitled 'I Am More Than An "Other."'

Blackamoor jewellery and art is considered dated, racially insensitive, and even taboo today. Dolce & Gabbana caused an uproar in 2012 when it included blackamoor heads on a pair of earrings and on fabric prints in its Spring 2013 collection.

It's unclear whether the princess wore the brooch to intentionally make an offensive statement, or whether it was a clueless decision wear the tone-deaf accessory. But to wear it at all—especially at an event where a celebrated biracial duchess-to-be would attend—is simply inappropriate.

What's more, Princess "Mike" (as she's called) has a history of racism. In 2004, she reportedly told a group of black customers in a West Village, NYC restaurant to "go back to the colonies" after she complained that they were being noisy.".....(more)




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[Sneederbunk]

1. Brooch experts everywhere are beside themselves.

[bettyellen]

6. Probably not, but people who care about racism might be bothered.

The culture we all swim in matters.

[Irish_Dem]

2. Welcome to the Family Meghan. Not too late to back out. nt

[Blue_true]

28. Harry seems like a cool dude. Neither him or William or Prince Charles seem to even

care what a person look like.

[Irish_Dem]

30. I think Prince Charles is a bit stuffy and may care. But after

his marriage disaster he is going to give his boys a free hand.
I think yes, William doesn't care, especially since Harry may finally
settle down and not be so wild.

[OldHippieChick]

3. Inasmuch as the brooch does not even match her earrings

I'm left to assume this was intentionally offensive, though she'll deny it.

[Girard442]

5. A Brit dog whistle, betcha.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. " a history of racism"....

Yeah, no accident there.

[MineralMan]

4. That's some nasty imperialistic crap right there.

A black Indian boy on her shoulder. Ugh!

[MagickMuffin]

7. Conservative Elitism

Is nasty to the core, or so it seems from the ones I have been made aware of.

I much prefer Liberal Elites!!!

[GoCubsGo]

8. Wow. Somebody is desperate for attention.

[Doremus]

9. Bitchy through and through and she can't proclaim it any louder. nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. Shameful.

[kwassa]

11. Go back to the colonies?

Princess, you were in the colonies.

Do you need remedial geography as well as history?

[Demtexan]

12. I hope Harry and the Queen told her off.

I glad Harry found the love he was looking for.

[MFM008]

13. The queen

Won't tolerate her shit.
I would have told her to take it off.

[politicaljunkie41910]

14. If intentional, Meghan would do well to ignore her. She's old and washed up.The youth are England's

future not the old folks. Queen Elizabeth is getting up in age, and when she's gone, it will be a different monarchy. When Diana married Charles, she revived a monarchy which was dying. Once she became engaged to Charles, she was swept up by the designers who were anxious to clothe he in their fashions and she bought style and interest back to the monarchy, like no one had before. Her new sense of style made her the most popular woman in the world. She revived England's tourist industry. She sold British Fashions. When she had William the clothing he wore would sell out in hours. People flocked to her appearances. The same happened with Kate, Williams wife, and it will happen with Meghan. And the country will fall in love with her like they did with Kate because like Kate, she is a real person and not a stuffy, snooty person trying desperately to hold on to a royal title whose time has passed.

[TheBlackAdder]

15. It's not her fault. She was in a pinch. She reached for her Gollywog brooch, but it was packed away.

[malaise]

16. Why any sane person thinks marrying into that lot is a good idea

scares me - but then I detest all royals.

[PdxSean]

26. Harry seems like a good human being and a cool dude.

If we could only marry into sane families . . . bwahahahahaha!

[Achilleaze]

17. Broaching the brooch breach

one might say.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Princess Michael's father was SS officer

Princess Michael of Kent acknowledged last night that her father had been an officer in Hitler's SS. A brief statement was issued by the Queen's press secretary, Mr Michael Shea, saying that the princess was "shocked" by the revelation in today's Daily Mirror.

The princess was born in the final months of the war to Gunther von Reibnitz, and his wife, Marianna, who had skied for Austria in the 1936 winter Olympics. The couple fled with their baby and her brother, Frederick, into American-occupied Bavaria when the Soviet army approached their estates in Silesia in 1945.
...
He had joined in 1933 and had been a member of the Nazi Party since 1930, three years before Hitler came to power. "He was somebody who went in early and ahead of the mainstream," Mr Hall said.

The documents found by Mr Hall referred to the baron fighting on the Polish front and being recommended for his next appointment by Herman Goering.

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/apr/16/princess-michael-father-nazi-ss-officer

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. Oh my.....

I wonder if she will be invited to the wedding.

[dalton99a]

29. A Nazi "three years before Hitler came to power" - her father was a racist piece of shit

[ProudLib72]

20. Lovely woman

But she subsequently went on to make a series of toe-curling remarks in a television interview about the incident, referring to African people as 'adorable'.

Talking of her extensive travels through Africa she said: ‘I even pretended years ago to be an African, a half-caste African, but because of my light eyes I did not get away with it, but I dyed my hair black.

‘I travelled on African buses. I wanted to be a writer. I wanted experiences from Cape Town to right up in northern Mozambique. I had this adventure with these absolutely adorable, special people and to call me racist: it's a knife through the heart because I really love these people.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5204907/Princess-Michael-Kent-wears-racist-Blackamoor-brooch.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. I am surprised she did not use the "some of my household staff..." bit.

Totally fucking clueless.

[ProudLib72]

23. Yep, I was thinking about Mrs Moore as I read this

This sort of excuse seems to be getting more common these days.

[cally]

24. Best revenge. Kick them out of Kensington apt and

Give to Harry and Meghan. It’s one of the housing options

[renate]

25. she's always been a fairly horrible person

I can't imagine what she was thinking, wearing this. Meghan and Harry are very popular and she is not.

[Nictuku]

27. How are we to treat the Others?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10214443683622178&set=a.10204171925394642.1073741826.1121640193&type=3

Q: How are we to treat the Others?
A: There are no Others.

[ismnotwasm]

31. Ew. Well, Merkel is still going to a Princess of the realm

And that racist pos is not.

[rusty fender]

32. OMG!

She even looks like a Nazi