Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

Papers Reveal UK Royals' Ban On "Coloured" Office Staff: Report

Papers Reveal UK Royals' Ban On "Coloured" Office Staff: Report

Citing historical papers it unearthed at the National Archives, the newspaper said that in 1968, Queen Elizabeth II's chief financial manager told government officials of the hiring policy towards ethnic minorities.
Senior aides to Queen Elizabeth II barred the hiring of "coloured immigrants or foreigners" in office roles at Buckingham Palace until at least the late 1960s, a media report said Thursday.

The Queen and Britain's royal household also negotiated an exemption from 1970s-era laws on race and sex discrimination that still exists today, The Guardian reported.

Citing historical papers it unearthed at the National Archives, the newspaper said that in 1968, the Queen's chief financial manager told government officials of the hiring policy towards ethnic minorities.

"It was not, in fact, the practice to appoint coloured immigrants or foreigners" to clerical and other office posts, one document quoted the royal courtier as having stated.

"Coloured applicants" were considered only for "ordinary domestic posts", it added.

It is unclear when the policy ended, but Buckingham Palace has said its records show people from ethnic minority backgrounds being employed in the 1990s, The Guardian noted.

The palace added it did not keep records on the racial backgrounds of employees prior to that, according to the paper.

A palace spokeswoman said in a statement: "Claims based on a second-hand account of conversations from over 50 years ago should not be used to draw or infer conclusions about modern-day events or operations."

She added the royal household complied with the provisions of the 2010 Equality Act "in principle and in practice".

"Any complaints that might be raised under the Act follow a formal process that provides a means of hearing and remedying any complaint," the spokeswoman said.

The revelations are the latest in an ongoing investigation by The Guardian into the royal family's use of an arcane parliamentary procedure -- known as Queen's consent -- to influence British legislation.

The official documents show senior aides to Britain's longest-serving monarch coordinated with government officials on the wording of new racial and sexual equalities laws in the 1970s.

The exemption secured for the royal household meant a government board, rather than the courts, has since dealt with allegations of discrimination within the royal household.

The disclosures are likely to renew focus on allegations of historical and more recent racism with the British royal family.

In a bombshell interview earlier this year, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle revealed a family member had expressed concern about their expected child's skin colour.

Shock at the claim prompted Prince William, second-in-line to the throne and Harry's elder brother, to tell reporters in March that the family was "very much not" racist.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
×