ONE of Queen Consort Camilla’s closest assistants, Lady Susan Hussey, resigned because she questioned a black domestic abuse activist about her ethnicity, virtually refusing to accept that she was British.
Ngozi Fulani, 61, a British campaigner and the CEO of the domestic abuse organisation Sistah Space, encountered a form of racial harassment from a member of the royal household.
Fulani claimed that the incident left her feeling traumatised and violated after Hussey questioned her repeatedly about where she and her people “really came from”.
Fulani wrote on Twitter: “Mixed feelings about yesterday’s visit to Buckingham Palace. 10 mins after arriving, a member of staff, Lady SH, approached me, moved my hair to see my name badge. The conversation below took place. The rest of the event is a blur.”
She described the conversation:
Lady SH: Where are you from?
Me: Sistah Space.
SH: No, where do you come from?
Me: We’re based in Hackney.
SH: No, what part of Africa are YOU from?
Me: I don’t know, they didn’t leave any records.
SH: Well, you must know where you’re from, I spent time in France. Where are you from?
Me: Here, UK
SH: NO, but what Nationality are you?
Me: I am born here and am British.
SH: No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?
Me: ‘My people’, lady, what is this?
SH: Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you’re from. When did you first come here?
Me: Lady! I am a British national, my parents came here in the 50s when …
SH: Oh, I knew we’d get there in the end, you’re Caribbean!
Me: No Lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent, and British nationality.
SH: Oh, so you’re from …”
Fulani said that she “couldn’t report it to the Queen Consort” who had hosted the reception.
She said: “I was almost forced to say that I’m not really British. I don’t know what she meant by ‘my people’. It was incomprehensible for her to consider that I have British citizenship. When she heard my parents were from the Caribbean she said: ‘Finally we are getting somewhere’ … It was overt racism.
Of Hussey’s resignation, she said: “It’s tragic for me that it has ended that way. I would have preferred that she had been spoken to or re-educated.”
Ngozi Fulani claims that neither the King nor the Queen Consort or Prince William has apologised to her -though Prince William did release a statement while on a visit to Boston to present the Earthshot Prize – which recognised environmental innovation.
She stated that she would be “happy” to accept the Royal Family’s invitation to a meeting to address what occurred.
Fulani said: “We’re about positive results. We’re happy to have that conversation. This is about violence against women and girls. I didn’t experience physical violence; I feel I experienced a form of abuse.
“I have clarity. That is racism.”
She added: ‘It was like an interrogation. That’s the only way I can explain it.’
However, Fulani refuted statements made by Buckingham Palace that they had talked to her yesterday. She said: “I don’t know where that has come from. Nobody has reached out to me or the charity. I’m telling you categorically – we have not heard from the palace”.
Buckingham Palace said: “We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full facts. In this instance unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made. We have reached out to Ngozi Fulani on this matter, and we are inviting her to discuss all elements of her experience in person if she wishes.
“In the meantime, the individual concerned would like to express her profound apologies for the hurt caused and has stepped aside from her honorary role with immediate effect.”
Hussey, 83, was just named one of the ladies of the household. She is the widow of former BBC chairman Sir Marmaduke Hussey. She is the King’s close friend. Katherine Brooke, her daughter, has recently been chosen to serve as one of Camilla’s future queen’s companions.
About 300 individuals were invited to a reception hosted by the Queen Consort at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday (29) to mark the United Nation’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence and to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.
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