Some, however, pointed out that the Duke of Cambridge and the royal family are facing allegations of racism themselves.
Prince William said he is “sickened” by the racist abuse that three Black soccer players for England have received since the team lost to Italy in the European Championship finals Sunday night.
After Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed penalty kicks at the end of the match, the three faced a torrent of “offensive and racist” posts on social media. Many prominent public figures have condemned the outpouring of bigotry, and the Metropolitan Police has said it is investigating at least some of the social media content.
“It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour,” William, who is president of the English Football Association, wrote on the official Twitter account of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Monday morning.
“It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable,” he wrote, signing the personal tweet with a “W” for William.
William has previously denounced the racist vitriol that many Black soccer players face.
In January, the royal tweeted that “racist abuse – whether on the pitch, in the stands, or on social media – is despicable and it must stop now.”
“We all have a responsibility to create an environment where such abuse is not tolerated, and those who choose to spread hate and division are held accountable for their actions,” he wrote, asking others to call out abuse when they see it and for social media companies to take more action.
William’s comments regarding racism in soccer have received praise on social media, but many have also criticized him for not publicly defending his sister-in-law Meghan Markle, who is biracial, from the sexist and racist abuse she has faced both on- and offline.
The royal family is also facing its own allegations of racism. In March, during a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan and Prince Harry said that a member of the royals expressed racist “concerns and conversations” over how dark their son’s skin would be before he was born.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex refused to name the family member who made those comments, though Harry did clarify that the remarks did not come from Queen Elizabeth or the late Prince Philip.
During an outing a few days after the Oprah interview, William said that the royals were “very much not a racist family.”
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