Duke of Sussex defends Lady Susan Hussey and says she never meant any harm

Lady Susan Hussey has been defended by Prince Harry after the late Queen’s former lady-in-waiting was accused of racism.

Lady Hussey served Elizabeth II for more than 60 years and had stayed on in an honorary role to support King Charles, but resigned last November after she was accused of “interrogating” a Buckingham Palace guest about where she was “really” from.

Ngozi Fulani, the director of east London charity Sistah Space, claimed the 83-year-old aide moved her hair to see her name badge before asking persistent questions about her birthplace.

Speaking to journalist Tom Bradby in an interview to promote his autobiography Spare, out in bookstores on Tuesday, Prince Harry said all that he and Meghan Markle had “ever asked for in the last - certainly the last - few years is some accountability”.

“I’m very happy for Ngozi Fulani to be invited into the palace to sit down with Lady Susan Hussey and to reconcile because Meghan and I love Susan Hussey,” he said.

“[Meghan] thinks she’s great. And I also know that what she meant, she never meant any harm at all.

“But the response from the British press, and from people online because of the stories that they wrote, was horrendous. It was absolutely horrendous, the response.”

Lady Susan met with Ms Fulani, a campaigner on black domestic violence, on December 16 to apologise for subjecting her to the “interrogation”.

In a joint statement, the activist and Buckingham Palace said the two women had enjoyed a “moving” and “wonderfully warm” meeting that ended in peaceful reconciliation and a palace pledge to extend diversity training.

Prince Harry went on to deny the Royal household was “essentially racist”, but claimed Ms Fulani’s experiences were “a very good example of the environment within the institution”.

“After our Oprah interview, they said that they were gonna bring in a diversity tsar,” he said. “That hasn’t happened.  Everything they said was gonna happen hasn’t happened.

“I've always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy – you have a responsibility and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.”

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