Princess Diana once slapped Prince Harry for mocking a Punjabi bus conductor’s accent, new book reveals
In the wake of the Oprah Winfrey interview, online trolls accused Prince Charles of being the unnamed member of the royal family — named by Harry — who made a crude comment about the possible color of Meghan’s first baby.
It was a ridiculous insult to the future king, who had been trying to improve diversity in his household for years.
Indeed, now that he is king, Charles has asked Prince William to do the same.
A senior member of the Royal Family told me making a racist remark ‘goes against everything The Boss’ [Charles] believes in. He believes that diversity is the strength of our society.
“It’s a little rich of Harry, given [Prince Charles] had to defend him when he was forced to apologize for dressing up in a Nazi uniform and for filming himself making a racist remark to a fellow Sandhurst officer cadet from Pakistan in 2009.”
In Disgrace: Harry as a young boy with Princess Diana and Detective Inspector Ken Wharfe
This wasn’t the first time Harry had been admonished for what he now calls his “unconscious bias.” When he was a little boy, about eight years old, his mother took him and William for a ride on a London bus as a treat, arranged by her police officer, Detective Inspector Ken Wharfe.
On the bus, Diana had to tell Harry to stop mimicking the Sikh bus conductor’s pronounced Punjabi accent every time a passenger pressed the bell to get off. The conductor, a jovial chap in a bright yellow turban, was relaxed about Harry’s casual racism, but Diana was so mortified that she eventually told Ken Wharfe to cancel the trip.
Diana, Ken, William and Harry all got out at Green Park and Diana immediately slapped Harry and told him, “Don’t ever do that again.”
The Duchess of Sussex during their interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, 2021
She then had Harry write Inspector Wharfe to apologize for his behavior and for spoiling the day he had arranged for the boys. I’ve spoken to Wharfe, who confirms the incident, and I’ve also seen the letter, still in his possession, in which Harry jokes about the phrase he used.
Since he was a kid at the time, he can probably be forgiven – but the incident shows that Diana was in full agreement with Charles on at least one issue. She did not tolerate any form of racism from their two sons.