Prince Charles found himself at the center of a media furor after the press caught wind of claims made about him in an upcoming book.
One of the bombshell takeaways from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year was that a member of the royal family reportedly asked about the color of the their future children’s skin.
At the time, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex demurred from naming the family member who allegedly made the incendiary comment. There’s been speculation since about who the mysterious person was, and there may finally be an answer.
According to claims in Christopher Andersen’s upcoming book Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan, Prince Charles allegedly raised questions about the subject.
Page Six reported on the allegations ahead of the book’s Nov. 30 release date.
According to a “well-placed source,” Harry’s father brought the subject up with his wife Camilla on the day the royal couple announced their engagement.
“I wonder what the children will look like,” he reportedly asked his wife. She was allegedly “somewhat taken aback” but replied that the children would be “absolutely gorgeous.”
The publication reported that Charles clarified: “I mean, what do you think their children’s complexion might be?”
Andersen claimed that Charles’ question was taken out of context by palace advisers referred to as the “Men in Gray.” He added that Charles told his son he was being “overly sensitive about the matter” when they spoke about it.
Prince William also reportedly dismissed his father’s comments as “tactless” but “not a sign of racism within the family.”
But Andersen doubled down on the claims during a recent interview, according to People.
“On the morning that Meghan and Harry’s engagement was announced, in a very kind of benign way, Prince Charles started to muse on what their future grandchildren might look like,” he said.
“I mean, here’s this beautiful biracial American woman and the world’s most famous redhead. I’m a grandfather, of course, we all do this, speculate on it. But it was turned into something very toxic, it was weaponized by the ‘Men in Gray’ who run the palace organization. Unfortunately, by the time it got to Harry, that’s the way he took it,” Andersen added.
A representative for Charles, meanwhile, flat-out denied the conversation ever took place, according to Page Six. “This is fiction and not worth further comment,” they said.
Spokespeople for Meghan and Harry did not reply to requests for comments. A spokesperson for William had no comment.
