Analysis
Lady Hussey’s racist remarks will take an already
bruised palace two steps back
Caroline
Davies
One can only imagine how many Commonwealth countries
must view what allegedly passes for small talk at a reception
Wed 30 Nov 2022
19.09 GMT
The
resignation of Lady Susan Hussey after making “unacceptable and deeply
regrettable comments” to a black female guest at a Buckingham Palace reception
will undoubtedly cast a gloomy shadow over the beginning of the king’s reign.
No matter
that Lady Hussey, 83, who served six long loyal decades as lady-in-waiting to
the late Queen – and who was nicknamed “No 1 Head Girl” by royal staff – is not
a key aide in the king’s private office. She is a close friend of Charles, who
made her a godmother to his eldest son, William.
Her new job
title, announced only last week, was as one of three Ladies-of-the-Household,
there to assist at palace functions and the like. Nevertheless, it is a
public-facing, honorary role.
For a royal
family still bruised by allegations aired on TV by the Duchess of Sussex
regarding matters of race, which have been vehemently denied, any whiff of
controversy on the subject will be greeted with abject horror.
More
especially, this is already an acutely sensitive time for the House of Windsor.
The long-awaited Netflix documentary on Harry and Meghan is, reportedly,
finally due to air next week.
If the
couple’s interview with US TV host Oprah Winfrey – in which they claimed an
unnamed member of the royal family speculated on the skin tone of their
first-born, Archie – is any yardstick, Buckingham Palace is right to be braced.
And they remain so for the publication of Harry’s candid memoir, Spare, in the
new year.
There will
be huge disappointment at this latest controversy. The reception at which Ngozi
Fulani, chief executive of the charity Sistah Space, was subjected to
interrogation over where she was “really from” was a key event in the new Queen
Consort’s diary. It had been billed as a “new high-water mark” in Camilla’s
violence against women and girls (VAWG) work, and a platform from which she
would deliver her first major speech in her new position.
Coverage of
the event has been overtaken by headlines on the fallout from Hussey’s comments
and her resignation.
The
incident also threatens to overshadow the first day of the Prince and Princess
of Wales’s visit to Boston to promote William’s Earthshot environment prize,
due to culminate in an award ceremony and a possible meeting with the US
president, Joe Biden.
It is just
two weeks since the king welcomed the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa,
to Buckingham Palace with a state banquet during which he spoke of
“acknowledging the wrongs” that shaped the pasts of the two nations.
South
Africa is part of the Commonwealth, of which Charles is head. One can only
imagine how many Commonwealth countries must view headlines such as that
generated by what allegedly passes for small talk by a trusted aide at a palace
reception.
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Susan
Katharine Hussey, Baroness Hussey of North Bradley, GCVO (née Waldegrave; born
1 May 1939) known as Lady Susan Hussey until her husband was raised to the
peerage in 1996, is a British noblewoman who served as a Woman of the
Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II and as a Lady of the Household from September
to November 2022 under King Charles III.
Hussey is
the fifth and youngest daughter of the 12th Earl Waldegrave, and Mary Hermione
Grenfell (1909–1995). She is the sister of the 13th Earl Waldegrave and the
Conservative politician William Waldegrave. Her aunt, Dame Frances
Campbell-Preston, was lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
On 25 April
1959 she married Marmaduke Hussey (later Chairman of the Board of Governors of
the BBC) and had two children: James Arthur (b. 1961) and Katharine Elizabeth
(b. 1964). Her daughter Katharine married Sir Francis Brooke and followed her
mother into royal service, as one of the official companions to Queen Camilla.
Royal household
Hussey
joined the royal household in 1960, initially helping with royal correspondence,
before being promoted to the position of Woman of the Bedchamber, owing to her
knowledge of the inner workings of the household. She was a close friend of the
Queen, and often spent time with her at Balmoral Castle.
She is a
godmother of William, Prince of Wales,[1] and was chosen to accompany Queen
Elizabeth II at the funeral of Prince Philip.
With other
members of the royal household, Hussey attended the state funeral of Queen
Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022. Following Elizabeth II's death, she was made
a Lady of the Household, along with the late Queen's other ladies-in-waiting,
responsible for helping with events at Buckingham Palace.
Resignation
On 30
November 2022, Hussey resigned from the royal household. This followed an
account of a conversation between her and the chief executive of the charity
Sistah Space, Ngozi Fulani. At a Buckingham Palace reception on gender-based
violence the previous day, hosted by Camilla, Queen Consort, Fulani said that
Hussey had questioned her origins by repeatedly asking where she was
"really" from.Buckingham Palace said that "unacceptable and
deeply regrettable comments" had been made, and that "the individual
concerned would like to express her profound apologies for the hurt caused and
has stepped aside". Commenting on the incident, her godson, Prince
William's spokesperson said "racism has no place in our society".
Already
Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO), she was promoted to Dame
Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in the 2013 Birthday
Honours.[11] She was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Version of the Royal
Household Long and Faithful Service Medal with 30-, 40-, 50- and 60-year bars.
In
September 2015, she received the Sash of Special Category of the Order of the
Aztec Eagle.
Hussey is
portrayed by Haydn Gwynne in season 5 of The Crown.
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