Buckingham Palace Aide resigns

LadyHonoriaDedlock

It's something a lot of non-white people have experienced.

"Where are you from?"

"London"

"No, where are you really from?"

"I'm really from Shepherds Bush^

Lenny Henry: “Enoch Powell says he wants to give me £1,000 to go back to where I came from. Which is great, because it’s only 20 pence on the bus from here to Dudley.”

merlotgran

Aveline

'honorary role' so presumably one of Camilla's new companions or 'ladies of the household'?

Definitely not one of Camilla’s aides. Lady Susan Hussey was one of the late Queen’s ladies in waiting.

Beggars belief that she should be so thick. Maybe dementia?

It's such a stupid thing to do. I thought early stage dementia too.

It’s time to retire the old ladies of the late Queen’s household ….

Yes, I should imagine they will all be quietly and swiftly pensioned off now.

As for the late Queen, I think her oft used phrase “Have you come far?” would have been a suitable start to the conversation.

BlueBelle

Oh gosh I can’t believe some of you apologist for this rude woman
avaline you ve really shocked me that’s a truly nasty way to view this, ‘the victim’ in inverted commas means you are disbelieving that anything wrong has been said.
Gosh

Unfortunately, I can believe it.

Wasn't it lucky that someone was on hand to transcribe the conversation as it happened?
As previously stated, I'm not saying it was right in the light of current day thinking but it was understandable.
Now, what do you lot think should be done to Lady Susan? Could she be made more miserable? I doubt it.

JenniferEccles In the conversation I've seen reported Susan Hussey did not aske her where her parents had come from, and she had read Ms Fulani's name badge, so deafness isn't an excuse.

'Where are you from' is a perfectly OK conversational opening move; to persist in asking her once she'd been told the answer is just downright rude.

It might have been sightly less rude if she'd asked her where her family came from originally. That 'could' have been the start of a perfectly OK chat about the Caribbean (where SH must have been a few times during her lifetime. But she obviously wasn't taking the convo in that direction..

Of course it was racist! Would anybody ask any white person repeatedly where they're from, if they have a surname which sounds foreign?

The lady had answered what organisation she was from and where it was situated. Nothing else mattered.

Aveline

Wasn't it lucky that someone was on hand to transcribe the conversation as it happened?
As previously stated, I'm not saying it was right in the light of current day thinking but it was understandable.
Now, what do you lot think should be done to Lady Susan? Could she be made more miserable? I doubt it.

Simple! She should be retired off and left to live her remaining days without coming into contact with important guests.

I don't accept the conversation was understandable in the slightest.

She should be retired off and left to live her remaining days without coming into contact with important guests.

She has apologised and resigned. I don’t see what else she can do.

What she did was wrong, of course, but cant help feeling a bit sorry fir this elderly woman, who should have known better. To end her decades of service in this way must be very hard and extremely embarrassing both for her and her family.
Ms Fulani was right to be angry and upset, of course she was and hope she gets a proper apology.

I have no sympathy for her whatsoever. She said what she did and age is no excuse.

Retiring or being pensioned off at 83=is hardly unusual!
Yes, her comments were out of order and reflect the attitudes of many of her generation (remember Prince Philip and slitty- eyed?) Alternatively she may be hard of hearing especially in a crowded space but whatever let’s not crucify her for being an elderly upper class fuddy -duddy with early 20th century colonialist attitudes.

I'm sorry, where did the deafness excuse come from?

"Elderly upper class fuddy -duddies with early 20th century colonialist attitudes" shouldn't be accompanying the partner of our Head of State at official events.

She should be retired off and left to live her remaining days without coming into contact with important guests.

That sound rather cruel to me. She may be a long way off, ‘remaining days’ and offenders no longer get locked up in the tower.

volver

I'm sorry, where did the deafness excuse come from?

"Elderly upper class fuddy -duddies with early 20th century colonialist attitudes" shouldn't be accompanying the partner of our Head of State at official events.

Many 83 year olds do have a hearing problem

And based on your post, that would have precluded the. Duke of Edinburgh from accompanying our Head of State years ago.

FannyCornforth

Leaving the race issue aside, Ms Hussey comes across as a nasty piece of baggage.
Why did she keep on and on?
She obviously wanted to put Ms Fulani ‘in her place’.
My late grandmothers would never have dreamt have talking to another woman like that.
To forgive it because of her age is unacceptable.
Perhaps race and age are not the issues - maybe it’s a class thing.

I think sometimes people do accept age is a contributory factor.
One of my nieces was a nurse on a geriatric ward full of elderly ladies. She was regularly called a white slut by certain patients. My niece cared for them never the less because they were old and confused and she was a nurse.

Marmardout, surely you aren’t comparing this incident with the understandable behaviour of ‘old and confused’ geriatric patients. If so, that’s a shocking unacceptable in accurate comparison

One of the purposes of a Godparent according to the Cof E. is Model and encourage them to develop Christian values – being kind and compassionate towards others, being generous towards others in need with time or money and standing against things in the world that cause injustice and suffering
Lady Susan evidently missed out on the racial injustice module I wonder then what sort of an example she has set for William?

Ok I do accept that the aide’s questions did seem to be a bit of an interrogation, but all she was trying to discover was whether the charity girl’s family was from Africa or the Caribbean, which could have been answered in one sentence at the beginning of the meeting.

It seemed to me that the charity woman was being deliberately evasive.

Possibly there were faults on both sides, but I will never agree that she was a victim.
How that word has been devalued.

Well, William is not for brushing aside the behaviour of his godmother. He is making no excuses for her age or alleged deafness. He told the press...
I was really disappointed to hear about the guests experience at Buckingham Palace last night
Obviously, I wasn't there, but racism has no place in our society and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.

that would have precluded the Duke of Edinburgh from accompanying our Head of State years ago.

Seems fair enough.

JenniferEccles

Ok I do accept that the aide’s questions did seem to be a bit of an interrogation, but all she was trying to discover was whether the charity girl’s family was from Africa or the Caribbean, which could have been answered in one sentence at the beginning of the meeting.

It seemed to me that the charity woman was being deliberately evasive.

Possibly there were faults on both sides, but I will never agree that she was a victim.
How that word has been devalued.

The charity girl?

This is getting worse every time I look...

Glorianny

One of the purposes of a Godparent according to the Cof E. is Model and encourage them to develop Christian values – being kind and compassionate towards others, being generous towards others in need with time or money and standing against things in the world that cause injustice and suffering
Lady Susan evidently missed out on the racial injustice module I wonder then what sort of an example she has set for William?

William is 40 years old, I think he’s a bit past needing the guidance of one of his godmothers!

Going by William's response, she hasn't set him a bad example has she.