Queen's cousin apologizes after wearing "racist" brooch
LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II's cousin has apologized for wearing a brooch that featured an African man as a slave. Princess Michael of Kent wore the brooch at a private Christmas lunch that included Prince Harry and his fiancee, Meghan Markle, who is biracial.
A spokesman for Princess Michael of Kent said late Friday that she is "very sorry and distressed" that a brooch featuring the head of a black man caused offense.
Some social media observers suggested it was a racist slight to Markle, whose mother is African-American. The princess has worn the brooch many times before, but BBC News reports it is understood the princess will not wear the brooch in future.
The princess, who entered the royal family when she married Prince Michael of Kent, has caused controversy in the past with racially insensitive remarks. In 2004, she reportedly told a group of African American diners in New York to "go back to the colonies," People magazine reports.
Her response for that incident was also controversial. She told British broadcaster ITV "I even pretended years ago to be an African, a half-caste African, but because of my light eyes I did not get away with it, but I dyed my hair black ... I had this adventure with these absolutely adorable, special people and to call me racist: It's a knife through the heart because I really love these people."
The princess was born in a German-populated part of what is now in the Czech Republic at the end of World War II. Her father was a Nazi officer during the war, BBC News reports.
Markle and Harry plan to marry at Windsor Castle in May. There was no indication the brooch offended either Markle or Harry.
