THE unnamed royal who questioned the skin colour of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s son Archie was “just being realistic” and not racist, John Barnes has said.
The ex-Liverpool ace, 57, made the comments after Meghan told Oprah Winfrey during an explosive interview that Archie wasn’t made a prince after “concerns and conversations” about “how dark” his skin would be when he was born.
Barnes said in his opinion that most black people would say “so what” to a question about their baby’s skin colour.
Barnes – a dad-of-seven – told the Sunday Times Magazine: “You speak to most black people and they’ll say ‘Yeah, so what?’ I would expect that conversation to be had by the family.
“People will always wonder what the baby will look like and if it is going to be dark.
“If you listen to what Meghan says, it’s not about them [the unnamed royal] worrying if the baby is dark or not, it’s them worrying about how the public are going to view that.
“Because they know if the baby is too dark, the public will not view the baby as positively. They’re being realistic.
“Let’s not pretend the public won’t care whether it’s a blond-haired blue-eyed baby or jet black, because they will.”
Barnes added: “The problem now is that if you don’t like her, people will call you a racist, when it’s got nothing to do with that.
“That’s why it’s important to separate the idea of racism and her character as a human being.”
During the interview with Oprah earlier this year, the Duchess of Sussex said there had been conversations with Prince Harry and a “family” member about their unborn son and what colour his skin would be – and “what that would mean or look like”.
But Meghan declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be “damaging” for them.
Prince Harry said he would “never share” the full details of the discussion but that he was asked at the start of his relationship with Meghan, how dark the skin of their children might be.
But Oprah revealed it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh who made the comment about Archie’s skin.
She told CBS This Morning: “He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother or grandfather that were part of those conversations.
“He did not tell me who was a part of those conversations.”
Speaking to Oprah, Meghan said the concerns had been raised at the same time that the future parents were told Archie would not receive security as he was not a prince.
She said: “All the grandeur around this stuff is not really important to me.
“But in those months when I was pregnant, all around same time: we have in tandem he won’t be given security, a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Oprah was left stunned and replied: “What? There is a conversation…hold on. Hold up. Hold up. Stop right now.
“There’s a conversation with you?” Meghan said: “With Harry.”
Oprah went on: “About how dark your baby is going to be?”
Meghan replied: “Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.”
Oprah then gasped: “Whoa.”
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, Meghan said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”
