Queen ‘to hire diversity tsar’ for minority representation push at Palace

The Royals are considering appointing a “diversity chief” amid “an awareness” that they are not “getting the results they should” on minority representation, insiders say.

Plans seen by The Mail on Sunday detail how the Buckingham Palace is seeking “independent views” on how to better represent ethnic minorities, disabled people and the gay and transgender communities. Aides across the Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace are taking part in a “listen and learn” exercise over the coming weeks and will be “speaking to a range of businesses and individuals about how the monarchy can improve representation”, the paper reports.

The plan has emerged amid the fallout of claims by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, during their televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, that a member of the Royal Family had raised “concerns” about the skin colour of their son, Archie, prior to his birth. However, the diversity drive has “been in train since before the Oprah interview”, according to The Telegraph.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

A source told the paper while “a lot of these actions have been under way for some time”, there was “an awareness that we are not doing as well as we would like on diversity, we haven’t been getting the results that we should”.

That verdict was echoed by another Palace insider, who told The Mail on Sunday that “we haven’t seen the progress we would like and accept more needs to be done”.

“This is an issue which has been taken very seriously across the royal households,” the source added.

Aides have also told The Times that the appointment of a diversity chief “is something that has to be considered but it is too early for any firm plans to be announced. We are listening and learning, to get this right.”

The paper reports while the review has not been launched because of the Sussexes’ allegations, their comments are expected to be “taken on board as part of the process”.

Separate bullying allegations against the duchess are also “the subject of an independent review ordered by the Palace”, The Mail on Sunday adds. But the “claims of racism” raised by the couple are not under “formal investigation”, says the paper.