Complaints about the ‘terribly white’ Palace balcony reveal rocky road that lies ahead for Royals

Over 19 million viewers in the UK watched the coronation on television, peaking at the moment when King Charles was crowned.

The national gaze eagerly wandered over the splendor, perhaps searching for clues between the traces and the jewels, the ritual and the ermine.

Looking for signs and clues about what it all means, where we stand on the world stage, who we are and who we are not at this moment in history. And it is precisely the latter that causes problems.

On ITV’s live coverage of the event, guest Adjoa Andoh watched the Royals gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, and she didn’t like what she saw. Not even a little.

‘When I look at all those young people, there’s something about me that has gone from the rich variety of the abbey to the awfully white balcony. I was very touched by that,” said the actress, who stars as Lady Agatha Danbury in Bridgerton, a historical drama series on Netflix.

‘When I look at all those young people, there’s something about me that has gone from the rich variety of the abbey to the awfully white balcony. I was very touched by that, ”said the actress

If she was struck by the scenes, viewers were equally struck by her comments. Ofcom has said it was the most complained television moment of 2023, with over 4,000 complaints on the day, and more since.

Andoh acknowledged the backlash in a BBC Radio 4 interview with Paddy O’Connell, saying “I think I’ve upset a few people.”

That was a bit of an apology, but you know what? According to O’Connell, she had “nothing to apologize for” and “no one was upset.”

This was clearly not true. Memories may vary, but how infuriating this must have been for those who were indeed offended or disappointed – or at least raised an eyebrow.

And especially for those who had to take the extra blow to the bruise, whose sincere views were summarily rejected because they didn’t fit into the BBC’s narrow, fashionable identity politics or socially sanctioned metropolitan groupthink.

No family should feel bad about their racial makeup. And the Windsors are a real family.

They’re not construction or fiction like Bridgerton, where characters of color can be introduced in the blink of an eye by the stroke of a pen or a casting director with a diversity quota to fulfill.

And, to be fair, I would say that “terribly white” is indeed a racist insult. It certainly could be offensive for all it entails; most of it is distasteful, nothing constructive.

No family should feel bad about their racial makeup. And the Windsors are a real family

God forbid anyone ever went on ITV or Paddy O’Connell’s BBC show and described the Obamas as ‘terribly black’ or Rishi Sunak and his family as ‘terribly brown’.

Paddy would have connips, not so gentle and reassuring and forgiving and patronizing at all. Everyone would be shocked and rightly so.

Yet racism is increasingly a one-way street, where everyone has to walk on eggshells, except when it comes to white people, because for God’s sake you can say what you like about them.

We seem to be reaching a stage in modern race relations where being white is pejorative in itself, especially if you also happen to be a member of the incumbent royal family.

So it’s interesting that Adjoa Andoh hasn’t felt the need to apologize — and neither has attorney, author, and media personality Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu.

Shola went into absolute Twitter fury when the first official photographic portraits of Queen Camilla were published on Wednesday.

Why? She believed the new Queen posed in front of a dresser at Buckingham Palace, groaning from blackamoor figurines, which today have racist connotations due to their associations with colonialism and slavery.

“This is staggeringly racially offensive and disgusting. After Princess Michael of Kent’s disaster in Blackamoor with Meghan Markle, this is a choice and design,” Dr Mos-Shogbamimu said angrily.

After it was noted that the objects in question were weeping woman candlesticks and not blackamoors at all, she deleted her tweet but continued to rage.

If there were blackamoors in the palace, they should be put in a museum so “history didn’t repeat itself,” she complained.

“My outrage if it were true still stands,” she added.

We were now in some parallel universe, a ludicrous nirvana of false indulgent indignation in which Dr. Mos-Shogbamimu was dead wrong, but continued to coddle her own anger as if she were absolutely right.

And somehow I still felt perfectly justified in calling Queen Camilla “disgusting” and “staggeringly” racist.

Earlier this week, Dr. Mos-Shogbamimu refused to go through with a C5 television interview until host Dawn Neeson (replacing Jeremy Vine) correctly pronounced her last name.

So it’s interesting that Adjoa Andoh hasn’t felt the need to apologize — and neither has lawyer, author, and media personality Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (photo)

Shola went into absolute Twitter fury when the first official photographic portraits of Queen Camilla (pictured) were published on Wednesday

I admired her dignity and determination despite such unprofessional behavior. “How do you pronounce your name?” Neesom asked. ‘Read it, my dear, read it. Go back and start over,” Mos-Shogbamimu said as Neesom continued to stumble.

Last year she chastised Kate Garraway of Good Morning Britain for the same clumsy mistake. I feel her pain!

My surname is unique to North East Scotland and very few people south of Stonehaven ever pronounce it correctly.

I stand with the Farquhars, the Urquharts, the Siobhans and the Niamhs, the Keoghs and the Cholmondeleys and indeed the Mos-Shogbamimus themselves as victims of chronic misidentification, part of the tongue-twisting cross we must bear.

My only point here is that Shola is quick to point out the mistakes of others and pushes for immediate rectification, but allows herself the luxury of showing clemency when she is wrong.

These are just two instances of contention in a stellar week for the country, but they speak volumes about the tricky road ahead for the newly crowned Royals.

Charles and Camilla can’t help but be the white king and queen of a mostly white land, but this is the rocky terrain their thrones are now planted on. And this is only week one.