<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Prince Harry said Sunday that he did not view as "racist" a British royal family member inquiring about the skin colour of his and his wife Meghan's unborn baby.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>The prince and Meghan had told the story of an unnamed royal repeatedly asking about the skin colour of their unborn son Archie, in a 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview.</div><div><br></div><div>It became one of the most discussed points on the show, which also accused British tabloids of racist treatment of Meghan, and prompted a rare reaction from the palace.</div><div><br></div><div>Harry denied accusing the royal of racism, in an interview aired Sunday on Britain's ITV television to promote his memoir "Spare".</div><div><br></div><div>"No I didn't. The British press said that," Harry said, adding that Meghan had also not called the royals "racist".</div><div><br></div><div>Harry said that "having lived within that family", he blamed the incident on "unconscious bias".</div><div><br></div><div>"My understanding is because of my own experience -- the difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different," the prince said.</div><div><br></div><div>His comments came after a recent embarrassing incident late last year when a royal attendant asked a black British charity head where she "really came from" at a reception.</div><div><br></div><div>The elderly aristocrat resigned and later apologised in person.</div><div><br></div><div>Harry's wife Meghan is mixed-race and she told Winfrey that Harry had relayed to her details of several conversations about how dark their baby's skin colour would be.</div><div><br></div><div>Winfrey asked if they were concerned the baby would be "too brown" and Meghan replied: "I wasn't able to follow up with why, but that - if that's the assumption you're making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one."</div><div><br></div><div>Meghan said that naming the royal responsible would be "very damaging for them".</div><div><br></div><div>The Winfrey interview prompted Buckingham Palace to issue a rare statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, saying "the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning".</div><div><br></div><div>"While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately," the statement said.</div><div><br></div><div>Prince William told reporters at the time that "we are very much not a racist family". Source: AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>