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Buckingham Palace Meets With Black Charity CEO, Ngozi Fulani, Questioned By Late Queen Elizabeth’s Friend About Her Ethnicity

Buckingham Palace Meets With Black Charity CEO, Ngozi Fulani, Questioned By Late Queen Elizabeth’s Friend About Her Ethnicity
December 4, 2022

Fulani was questioned about her background by Lady Hussey at Buckingham Palace last Tuesday.

 

Buckingham Palace has held a meeting with Ngozi Fulani, the founder and CEO of domestic abuse charity, Sistah Space, who was repeatedly asked where she was "really" from during a royal reception, according to BBC News.

 

SaharaReporters had reported that the Buckingham Palace aide, Lady Susan Hussey resigned last Wednesday amid controversy over “unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments,” made to the Black charity leader at the Queen Consort’s reception.

 

It was gathered that the founder of Britain’s leading domestic abuse charity for Black women, Fulani, said she was left “traumatised” after she was asked racially offensive questions about her heritage at the event.

 

Fulani was questioned about her background by Lady Hussey at Buckingham Palace last Tuesday. Fulani likened the questioning to "an interrogation".

 

“I was stood next to two other women - black women - and she (Lady Susan) just made a beeline for me, and she took my locks and moved it out of the way so that she could see my name badge,” Fulani said of the interrogation.

 

“That is not acceptable. I wouldn't put my hands in someone's hair, and it's not culturally acceptable.”

 

Lady Hussey has since left her honorary role within the Royal Household.

 

She has offered her "profound apologies" through a Palace statement.

 

In the statement on Wednesday, the Palace said they had "reached out to Ngozi Fulani on this matter" - but the next day, Ms Fulani told the BBC no direct contact had been made.

 

The BBC reported on Sunday that a dialogue was taking place with Ms Fulani's team but said there were no further details at the time.

 

Lady Hussey, Prince William's godmother remains willing to make a personal apology if it would be welcomed, the BBC has also been told.

 

Lady Hussey was the late Queen's lady-in-waiting and was seen as a key and trusted figure in the Royal Household for decades.

 

Part of her latest role involved helping to host events at Buckingham Palace.

 

Ms Fulani was a guest at one of these events last Tuesday - a reception representing domestic violence which she attended as part of her work with the charity Sistah Space.

 

She described how Lady Hussey moved her hair to see her name badge and then repeatedly challenged her to explain where she was from.

 

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday, Ms Fulani said: "It was like an interrogation.

 

"I guess the only way I can explain it, she's determined: 'Where are you from? Where are your people from?'"

 

“But where do you really come from?”

 

Ms Fulani also rebuffed suggestions that Lady Hussey's remarks had anything to do with her age.

 

She had been representing her charity, which supports women of African and Caribbean heritage across the UK who have faced domestic and sexual abuse, at the event.

 

Lady Hussey's remarks overshadowed the Prince and Princess of Wales's trip to Boston.

 

At the time, a spokesperson for Prince William said "racism has no place in our society".

 

He added: "The comments were unacceptable, and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect."