Meghan Markle A ‘Black’ Princess? Guess Again!

This week, Prince Harry of Great Britain announced his engagement to biracial American actress Meghan Markle. However, if you’re one of the millions who’s been jumping for joy at the thought of Harry marrying a “black” woman, you may want to calm yourself and brace for a dose of reality.

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Granted, this has been a progressive decade for African-Americans. First, a biracial man was elected (twice) to The White House and now, a biracial woman (who is 3 years older than her fiance) is about to bring a bit of flavor to Buckingham Palace. However, if you think for one second that Meghan Markle will be allowed to be openly biracial as a future member of the royal family (and bring her “biracial-ness” into the fold), guess again!

The mother of Meghan Markle is a black woman from Compton, California (one of the blackest neighborhoods in America). Although her father is white, her black heritage, her history, her lineage will likely evaporate into the ether — at least for as long as Queen Elizabeth and possibly, Prince Charles are alive.

According to 2 noteworthy British scholars, Markle will likely be instructed by royal advisers to downplay or even outright hide that she is biracial. Such a suggestion likely won’t end up doing much to improve rocky race relations inside the United Kingdom.

“She won’t be allowed to be a black princess. The only way she can be accepted is to pass for white,” said Kehinde Andrews, an associate professor of sociology at Birmingham City University who launched the first black studies degree in Europe. “If there are people who are celebrating, it’s a bit naive, and they’ll be very disappointed.”

Perhaps what many people are forgetting is that the bloodline of the royal family reflects a country where 87% of the population is white and only 3% is black. So the thought of a “black” princess serving as some beacon of progress for the United Kingdom and its royal family while making little mixed race babies inside the royal gates is simply beyond the realm of reality. In fact, Andrews doesn’t believe the presence of Meghan Markle amongst the royals will make a dent of difference in changing centuries of racist British thinking.

“The family is really strongly a symbol of British Empire whiteness,” Andrews said. “Having a splash of coffee in the monarchy doesn’t make any bit of a difference. It doesn’t change what the monarchy is, it doesn’t change what it represents.”

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Already, the very thought of Harry and Meghan’s impending nuptials has some “not-so-progressive” Brits in tears.

“The royal family should reflect the natives of the country,” a British woman told Andrews. “After all, you wouldn’t have a white person in the Indian royal family.”

Complicating matters further is that British people don’t differentiate between being black and biracial, since they consider them one in the same. So, despite America’s reference to Meghan Markle as biracial, to the Brits, she is simply black.

“I suspect she will be strongly advised by Royal advisers to avoid discussing her ethnicity,” Ellis Cashmore, a British sociologist and cultural critic surmised this week.

So, despite London’s The Daily Mail published article boasting the headline, “Harry’s Girl Is (Almost) Straight Outta Compton,” don’t expect the powers that be inside Buckingham Palace to allow such tomfoolery to taunt the royal family for long. At least until Harry’s modern-thinking brother William becomes king, Meghan Markle of Compton will soon become Princess Henry of Wales (Harry’s birth name). With plans for her to excommunicate herself from US citizenship and become a British citizen, expect her to be directed to “excommunicate” herself from her heritage and pass for a typical white woman ASAP!

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Don’t expect Meghan Markle to be a ‘black’ princess.