King Charles and Kate Middleton smiled as they greeted diplomats on Tuesday, a week after being named in the royal race scandal in a Dutch-language version of Omid Scobie's new book.
Charles and Queen Camilla joined Prince William and the Princess of Wales at Buckingham Palace to meet London-based diplomats from around the world.
Britain's four most senior royals posed alongside each other after seven days of frenzied coverage linking Charles and Kate to dramatic allegations Meghan Markle made during her March 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview
The English-language version of Endgame said two royals were identified in letters sent between Charles and Meghan in the days after the interview, though British law prevented Scobie from revealing them.
The Duchess of Sussex had said on camera that an unnamed royal expressed "concerns" about how dark her unborn child's skin might be, while Prince Harry had described the exchange as a conversation he would never share. He later clarified that he and Meghan saw the issue as unconscious bias rather than racism.
And for two-and-a-half years the name remained a mystery until the Dutch version of Scobie's book hit shelves.
According to the Dutch version of the book, which has since been pulled, Charles made the remark while the Princess of Wales was part of the conversation.
Afua Hagan, a U.K.-based royal expert, told Newsweek of Tuesday's Buckingham Palace event: "I think this will help them. I think the show of unity between the fab four as it were is super-important for them and super-important for people who support them to see that the four of them are united, are together.
"I've heard that its the first time that King Charles has been able to have a conversation with the Prince and Princess of Wales about everything that's happened over the past week.
"I think this is a good opportunity for them to have a chat but also to show that the monarchy goes on and lives on despite all the tittle-tattle and gossip."
Hagan said, though, that the issue goes beyond gossip and that she feels it is time for the palace to release a statement and address the wider issue of race and the royal family.
She cited past scandals including Princess Michael of Kent wearing a "Blackamoor" broach for her first meeting with Meghan in 2017 and Lady Susan Hussey, Prince William's godmother, questioning a Black charity boss on where she was "really from" at a Buckingham Palace reception in 2022.
"If the royal family genuinely want to be seen as progressive and not racist and as modern and reflecting the people they deign to rule over in the United Kingdom, in the realms and across the Commonwealth then this has to be addressed,"Hagan said.
"This is an issue where 'keep calm and carry on' doesn't work actually because all that's going to happen is these conversations are going to resurface again and again," she said. "I think release a statement on this issue and address it more broadly. If you genuinely want to be seen as a non-racist family, actively trying to be progressive in that way, then do something about that."
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
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