Colour bar

Why should anyone be surprised that the Queen’s courtiers banned “coloured immigrants or foreigners” from serving in clerical roles in the royal household until at least the late 1960s? To this day, the Queen and the royal household remains exempt from law which prevent race and sex discrimination, although it does appear these days the Palace doesn’t exclude “coloured immigrants or foreigners” from applying for jobs. It is hard to believe that this sort of thing was the norm in the 1960s and, to some extent, the 1970s too. Or is it?

We know all about that in the west country, where in the 1950s the Bristol Omnibus Company operated a colour bar, preventing black people applying for jobs. And before you accuse the bosses and the upper classes for having a monopoly on racism, don’t forget that the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) passed in 1955 a resolution that “coloured” people should not be employed as bus crew. According to Andrew Hake, curator of the Bristol Industrial Mission, “The TGWU in the city had said that if one black man steps on the platform as a conductor, every wheel will stop”. In other words, racial discrimination was a societal issue, not just a class one.

All this stuff and more can be found on the internet so I won’t bore you with any (more) cut and pasting from other articles, but here’s a thing. Something that most of us now find appalling and shameful was the norm around half a century ago and there is no doubt that some progress has been made. Some progress, but not enough. That’s why we have Black Lives Matter and why people feel the need to remove statues of slavers. And why we must ask the question of why Meghan Markle has not fitted in quite so well in royal circles as some others. If only there was something about her that looked a bit different to conventional royals.