As Prince William arrived in Boston Wednesday, part of his effort to show a new and modern version of the British royal family, he had to deal with a PR emergency back home involving racist comments made by a royal aide at a reception at Buckingham Palace the day before.
It didn’t help that the comments were made by Lady Susan Hussey, William’s 83-year-old godmother, or that they played into narrative put forth by critics of the monarchy — including William’s brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan Markle — who see it as an antiquated institution that still holds traces of its racist, colonial past.
London-based public relations expert Mark Borkowski agreed that Hussey’s comments have created public relations “disaster” for the royal family, “especially at the start of William and Kate’s US trip which will be dominated by a new racism row.” Borkowski told the Daily Mail: “They are flying into a perfect storm.”
Before a plane carrying William and his wife, Kate Middleton, landed in Boston, marking the couple’s significant first trip to the United States in eight years, the new Prince of Wales had to address Hussey’s “unacceptable” comments to Ngozi…
