Commentator Calls Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Award for Fighting Racism ‘Laughable’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation Ripple of Hope Award, an honor that many critics disagree with. Commentator Lizzie Cundy called it “laughable” and “disrespectful” to the royal family.
Commentator calls Prince Harry and Meghan Markle award honor ‘laughable’
According to Kerry Kennedy, who heads the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, Prince Harry and Meghan will receive the award based on their Oprah Winfrey interview. In addition to a number of bombshells, they shared that an unnamed member of the royal family asked about their son Archie’s skin color before his birth.
Cundy weighed in on the award during an appearance on the Jeremy Vine show (via Express). “For me, this is laughable because they’ve got zero evidence about these two, about a single act of racism that they’ve actually encountered by the royal family,” Cundy said.
She continued, “There is no evidence. There’s no name of who this royal allegedly may be.”
Cundy further noted her belief that the award is “disrespectful to the grieving family” and “to our late queen.”
She added, “Let’s just think about this, to be honest. Let’s think about kindness. These two have lost more staff than I’ve had cups of tea.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will receive award for ‘heroic’ way they challenged royal family
Speaking to Spanish news outlet El Confidencial, Kennedy explained why Harry and Meghan are receiving the award. “They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution; that they could not maintain a misunderstanding about mental health,” Kennedy said.
“They knew that if they did this there would be consequences, that they would be ostracised, they would lose their family, their position within this structure, and that people would blame them for it,” she continued.
Kennedy added, “They have done it anyway because they believed they couldn’t live with themselves if they didn’t question this authority. I think they have been heroic in taking this step.”
Commentator says award will ‘legitimize’ Harry and Meghan’s version of ‘their truth’
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams shared his thoughts about the award, telling Express it’s “an extraordinary thing” because it’s seemingly based solely on Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah.
“So much in the Oprah interview I believe was their truth or their version of it,” he said. “And I worry this award will legitimize it in the minds of young people.”
Additionally, Fitzwilliams said it’s problematic that Oprah “didn’t probe” further during the interview. “So people will see that they won an award and they will primarily identify this with the Oprah interview and certain comments on podcasts and programs,” he said.
“But it will primarily be identified in people’s minds with Oprah and what should have been probed wasn’t, a large number of questions, and it will add credence to their brand in an area where I believe that they’ve been destructive,” Fitzwilliams added.
