Meghan Markle 's "Finding Freedom" biographer Omid Scobie says he experienced racial "ignorance" from the palace that was similar to the way the duchess was treated.- In the new biography, co-authored by Scobie and Carolyn Durand, Scobie recalled the time a palace staff member told him: "I never expected you to speak the way you do."
- Speaking to Insider about the experience, Scobie called it "a moment of ignorance or insensitivity."
- "The reason why I felt it was important to include a small anecdote in the book was because I think over the years we've often heard people say, 'Well, there wasn't that much
racism . It was just calling her 'Straight Outta Compton' once, that was that," he added. - However, Scobie also said he was wary of describing what he experienced as racism, "because I think sometimes people aren't aware of the things they say."
The Duchess of Sussex's biographer Omid Scobie says he experienced the same racial "ignorance" from the palace that Meghan Markle received during her days as a royal.
The book "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern
Scobie details his own experience in the book, recalling the time a palace staff member told him: "I never expected you to speak the way you do."
Speaking to Insider about the incident, Scobie said: "What I would call that moment itself was a moment of ignorance or insensitivity.
"It's hard to use the term 'racist' because I think sometimes people aren't aware of the things they say," he added.
"The reason why I felt it was important to include a small anecdote in the book was because I think over the years we've often heard people say, 'Well, there wasn't that much racism. It was just calling her 'Straight Outta Compton' once, that was that," he said, referencing a Daily Mail article which used this language to compare photos of Markle's mother's home to Kensington Palace.
"And of course, there have been much more veiled attacks on Meghan," Scobie added.
"Not just Meghan, but her mother, and some of those narratives that emerged in the early days. The really appalling photos of Meghan's mom taking her laundry to a laundromat, and being painted as this impoverished woman living in a downtrodden part of LA, which couldn't be further from the truth."
He added: "Sometimes these things fly under the radar, and I wanted to give an example of something within my own experiences within the institution that was a similar type."
Prince Harry was the only royal to publicly defend Markle after the Daily Mail article was published in November 2016, issuing a statement condemning "the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments."
More recently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken about racial equality and the Black Lives Matter movement during numerous virtual engagements.
The working members of the royal family, however, have failed to address the issue. While some royal watchers argue that the royals won't comment because BLM could be considered "political," Scobie says it shouldn't be viewed in this way.
"You know, sometimes, some of the things we see that are perhaps politically sensitive, are really just humanitarian issues and don't belong in the political space," he added.
"I don't think [Markle and Harry] would have been able to go into that guns blazing if it wasn't for the fact that they stepped away from the institution. So this has really enabled them to speak louder on these matters more than ever before.
"But at the same time, it does highlight some of the silence in the space that they left behind," he said.
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The British royal family has turned a blind eye to its racist past