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Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor brooch, an art style widely regarded as racist by historians, in 2018.
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Netflix's "Harry & Meghan" docuseries addresses several controversial incidents related to racism and the monarchy, including the time Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor brooch to an event with Meghan Markle in 2018.
In 2018, she made headlines when she wore a Blackamoor brooch — a style of art widely regarded as racist by art curators and historians — to the Queen's Christmas lunch where Meghan was also in attendance.
Blackamoor is a style of art that often depicts people with dark skin in subservient positions
"The brooch was a gift and had been worn many times before. Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offense," her representative said in a statement in 2018.
Princess Michael of Kent was heavily criticized for wearing a Blackamoor brooch in 2018.Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images
It was not the first time Princess Michael had been at the center of a controversy regarding racism
In 2004, a group of Black patrons at a New York restaurant said the princess told them to "go back to the colonies" during an argument about their noise level, the New York Post reported at the time.
Lord John Taylor of Warwick, who served as Britain's first Black government special advisor and was the only Black member of the House of Lords when appointed in 1996, condemned the remarks that witnesses attributed to the princess.
"This is bigotry — it is racism," he told the New York Post in 2004. "It is saying, 'Go back to where you came from when we ruled the world.'"
Her spokesperson denied the report, telling the Post that Princess Michael "flatly denies making any racist slur" and "any suggestion the princess made such a comment is untrue."
For example, Queen Elizabeth I was connected to Britain's slave trade in the 1500s, a historical fact that Queen Elizabeth II never publicly acknowledged or apologized for. More recently, Prince Philip was known for his controversial sense of humor and often made remarks during royal engagements that landed him in hot water, such as comparing Ethiopian art to "the kind of thing my daughter would bring back from school art lessons" in 1965.
"In this family, you're part of the problem rather than part of the solution. And there is a huge level of unconscious bias," he said in the Netflix docuseries, streaming now. "The thing with unconscious bias is it's actually no one's fault. But once it's been pointed out or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right. It's education, it's awareness. And it's a constant work in progress for everybody, including me."
Afua Hirsch, a journalist and author of "Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging," appeared in the docuseries to provide more historical context for the Blackamoor brooch incident.
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"When I heard about Meghan at an event where a member of her soon-to-be family was wearing a Blackamoor brooch, I wasn't hugely surprised because one of the realities of life in Britain is that if you go into a palace or a stately home or anywhere that represents tradition, you are likely to be faced with racist imagery," she said. "There are murals on the wall, carvings on the ceiling, that depict enslaved people in a way that glorifies the institution of slavery."
Princess Michael's representatives and Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.