Royals: Prince Harry learned about race bias by ‘walking in Meghan Markle’s shoes’

Prince Harry didn’t know unconscious race bias existed. Life with Meghan Markle revealed ‘ignorance is no excuse’.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan Markle. Picture: Toby Melville/AFP

The Duke of Sussex knew nothing about unconscious racial bias until he learnt to “live in my wife’s shoes”.

Prince Harry said that it took “many years” to realise it existed, but added: “Ignorance is no longer an excuse.”

He was talking to Patrick Hutchinson, a Black Lives Matter activist, for GQ magazine’s Heroes conference. In June Mr Hutchinson carried Bryn Male, a white activist, to safety during clashes between far-right agitators and Black Lives Matter protesters in London.

Harry, whose wife, Meghan, has a black mother and white father, said that no one can “point fingers” about unconscious bias.

“But once you realise or you feel a little bit uncomfortable, then the onus is on you to go out and educate yourself, because ignorance is no longer an excuse. And unconscious bias, from my understanding, having the upbringing and the education that I had, I had no idea what it was. I had no idea it existed. And then, sad as it is to say, it took me many, many years to realise it, especially then living a day or a week in my wife’s shoes.”

Manners matter

He also told Mr Hutchinson, 49, a personal trainer from Wimbledon, southwest London, that manners mattered. “As much as you’re going around saying thank you’ and ‘please’ and opening doors and waving to people, saying ‘thank you’ in your car, for anybody else that sees you or anybody else doing that, engage in a conversation,” he said. “Say thanks very much. Because, by the way, not many people do that these days, so the fact that you’re doing that shows you’re leading from the front.”

Mr Hutchinson, who achieved instant celebrity status after a photo of him rescuing Mr Male, a Millwall fan and former British Transport Police officer, went viral, told Harry that when he was younger he did “deviate off the rails a little bit”, and then his mother told him: “Listen, if you continue down this road, you’ll end up being no good.” He added: “But ultimately, like most curious young lads, I just got into a few scrapes with some of my friends.”

Mr Hutchinson said that he went to the protest with a group of friends to act as “older heads … wiser individuals … to calm down the youngsters”.

Patrick Hutchinson — a Black Lives Matter supporter — placed a badly injured far-right protester in a fireman’s lift and carried him to safety during a clash between protesters. Picture: Supplied

He said: “We went down there as a group and were really just there to oversee things and make sure that those young protesters didn’t do anything they would regret later on. That was the main reason. It was a mixture of protesters. They’re from all walks of life, all sexes, all colours. So it wasn’t just us down there protecting the young black protesters. It was us protecting everybody and, as it turned out, somebody on the other side. We were pleased that we’d been able to avert a serious, serious situation.”

Mr Hutchinson said that had encountered unconscious racial bias when he was working in IT in London, but also talked about the problems faced by white working-class people. “There are white people who are struggling in impoverished areas, along with black people, who don’t get the opportunities and the chances that others might get.”

Harry said: “It’s going to take every single one of us to really change things and anyone that’s pushing against it really needs to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. Because as I said, this isn’t black versus white. As you quite rightly pointed out, now in 2020 we have protesters of every colour, every background, every religion, every age. This is a global movement. The train has left the station. If you’re not on it now, then get on it because there’s so much that we can do.”

Screen shot of Meghan and Harry as they appear on the Evening Standard's Twitter page calling to end structural racism and talk of their hopes of equality. Source: Twitter

The Times