Peter Hunt

William has revealed the princes’ pain

(Photo by Justin Tallis – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The institution waited two days before responding to the Oprah interview with a statement that acknowledged the allegations around race were concerning, but it omitted any condemnation of racism. In just twelve seconds this morning, Prince William tackled the central charge head on. 

The brothers are riven, in their trenches and communicating via chat show hosts and off the record briefings to newspapers

TV doorstepping — shouting a question at someone without prior agreement while armed with a camera and microphone — can be a fruitless task. Doing it when the target is a royal is a soulless endeavour. This morning, at a school in east London, fortune favoured the bold.

When a reporter asked William, ‘is the royal family a racist family, sir?’ he received a reply from the masked second in line to the throne, who spoke as he walked, ‘we’re very much not a racist family’.

William could have ignored his would-be inquisitor.

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