Princess Disguised Herself as 'half-caste'

[Rootsie]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/24/nkent24.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/24/ixnewstop.html
By Oliver Poole
UK Telegraph
(Filed: 24/07/2004)

Princess Michael of Kent has countered allegations that she is a racist by revealing that she once pretended to be a "half-caste African" to try to understand what it was like to be black.

Giving her first interview about the incident when she allegedly told a group of black diners at a smart New York restaurant to "go back to the colonies", she said the accusation was like a "knife in my heart".

The wife of the Queen's cousin described a bus ride she took in her youth through southern Africa disguised as a "half-caste" - a phrase now considered by some to be a racial slur.

"I didn't get away with it," she admitted, "but I dyed my hair black and I travelled on an African bus. I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to have an experience. [I travelled] from Cape Town right up to northern Mozambique.

"I had adventures with these absolutely adorable, special people and to call me a racist is a knife in my heart because I really love these people and have done so much, I think probably more than most people I know, for Africans."

Princess Michael was questioned by John Stapleton, who interviewed her for ITV's My Favourite Hymns, as to how the incident occurred at the Da Silvano restaurant in May.

She said that on an adjacent table were "African American revellers who were having a really good time".

She added: "I turned around and said: 'Excuse me please, excuse me, would you mind terribly for a moment just being a little bit quieter so that we could just hear the menu.'

"They thought it was hilarious. I suppose they never heard pleases and do you minds and English accents and they went wild with joy and hilarity."

When the princess said she would have to leave, her companion found a table they could move to - but near the kitchen.

She added: "He came back and said: 'I have found a table but do you mind, it's in Siberia?' I said: 'Siberia? At this point I'd be ready to go back to the colonies.' "

The resulting row, in which the black diners - who included a Wall Street banker and a television reporter - described her as a "crazy woman", resulted in her being titled "Royal Bigot" in the American press and being dropped by the publicist promoting her latest book.

Princess Michael indicated to her interviewer that she had not defended herself publicly at the time as to do so would have broken royal protocol. "I'm probably not supposed to say anything," she said.

During the programme, which is broadcast at 10.25am tomorrow, the Czech-born royal also addressed why she had often experienced hostility from the public and media in Britain.

She largely attributed it to the problems of being "very tall", her high-spiritedness and a continued bias against Roman Catholics.

"I'm foreign, which is never quite accepted I think. I have different ways of saying things and doing thing and I'm half-Hungarian which implies I am volatile. Not really - I think I'm rather high-spirited.

"I'm also very tall. When I came into the family I was very much the tallest lady. Thank God, Diana came and was tall with me."

She added that her Roman Catholicism had been a "problem". When she married, she said, pressure was put on her in royal circles, primarily by Lord Mountbatten, to convert to Anglicanism, and she received hints that she and her husband would be rewarded with a place on the Civil List if she did.

"To be asked to convert, to see the light, hallelujah, you know, I just can't do that," she said. "I'm many things but not a hypocrite."

indeed

[Ayinde]

Volatile, moi? I think I'm just a bit high-spirited, says Princess Pushy

CAROLINE GAMMELL



PRINCESS Michael of Kent has rejected claims that she is racist despite being accused of telling a group of noisy diners sitting next to her in a New York restaurant to "go back to the colonies".

No stranger to controversy, the wife of the Queen's first cousin - dubbed Princess Pushy - claimed she had never been accepted in the UK because she is foreign.

Talking about the negative media coverage, she said: "I don't think it's my place to explain myself. But, I think (it's because) I'm foreign, which is never quite accepted I think. I have different ways of saying things and doing things.

"I'm half-Hungarian, which implies that I am volatile - not really, I think I'm rather high-spirited."

She insisted she had not made the comment and the exchange of words between the two parties had simply been a misunderstanding.

The princess was at the Da Silvano restaurant on Sixth Avenue in May when she asked people at a nearby table to be quiet.

She told her companions they would have to go somewhere else because of the noise and one went off in search of a table. On his return he said there was a table, but that it was "in Siberia".

In an interview with John Stapleton on ITV1's My Favourite Hymns, to be broadcast on Sunday, the princess said: "I was standing, ready to go and I said, 'Siberia? At this point I would be ready to go back to the colonies'.

"Now, I was unaware, and I probably should have been aware, that "colonies" is a pejorative term in America."

The princess, 59, said being dubbed a racist was like "a knife through the heart" and added: "This is against everything I believe in, everything I have worked for."

Princess Michael went on to say she had a love for Africa and the African people.

She said: "I even pretended years ago to be an African, a half-caste African, but - because of my light eyes - I did not get away with it, but I dyed my hair black. I travelled on African buses, I wanted to be a writer, I wanted experiences from Cape Town right up in Mozambique.

"I had this adventure with these absolutely adorable special people and to call me racist - it's a knife through the heart because I really love these people."

But one of the diners who rowed with the Royal in the New York restaurant was not impressed. Nicole Young, a fashion TV reporter and PR consultant, rejected the princess's version of events. She said when she confronted the princess about her "colonies" remark 20 minutes after it was made, the message was "quite clear".

"I was so completely insulted, there was no possible way that I could walk away and let it go," she said.

"This is New York. This is 2004. It was completely inappropriate.

"We definitely didn't misunderstand what she said."

In the same interview, Princess Michael also revealed how she was "blown away" to discover that her son, Lord Freddie Windsor, had taken cocaine.

She said: "My children have always been very anti-drugs, so when my son was accused of taking cocaine in his first year at Oxford I was blown away.

"I said, 'Is this true?' and he said, 'Yes, it is true, it happened'."

She said her son was talking against drugs when he was challenged by a group of people who would not listen to him because he had not tried the drug. He took the cocaine to silence his critics, his mother claimed.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=846102004

[Ayinde]

I could not let it fly. It is funny as she is like many whites who come to Africa Speaks.

--Ayinde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess denies racism claims

By Robert Jobson Royal Correspondent
23 July 2004

Princess Michael of Kent today insisted she is not a racist, claiming she once disguised herself in a bid to experience life as an African "half-caste".

The revelation comes after the woman dubbed "Princess Pushy" was accused of telling a group of black New Yorkers to "go back to the colonies" after a row in a restaurant.

She denied the "wicked" claim, which she described in a TV interview as a "knife in the heart".

She said she once dressed as a black woman on a trip to Africa to try to see at first hand what black people have to face. Denying she is a racist, the Princess said: "Its such a wicked thing to say to me because it is against everything I believe in, against everything I have worked for.

"I even pretended years ago to be an African, a half-caste African of course. With my light eyes I didn't get away with it." She added: "I dyed my hair black and I travelled on an African bus. I wanted to be a writer, I wanted the experience ... from Cape Town right up to northern Mozambique. I had adventures with these absolutely adorable, special people.

"To call me a racist is ... it's a knife in my heart, because I really love these people and have done so much, I think probably more than most people I know, for Africans - and, well, you know, what can you do. You grin and bear it," she said.

She was speaking to John Stapleton in an interview for ITV1's My Hymns, to be broadcast on Sunday. But the remarks are sure to reignite the racism row - because the expression "half-caste" is regarded as an insult to those of mixed race.

She also insists that the New York incident was a "misunderstanding".

The Princess - whose husband Prince Michael is the Queen's cousin - was dining at the Da Silvano restaurant in Sixth Avenue when she asked people at a nearby table to be quiet.

She says she asked the "African-American revellers" politely to be "a little bit quieter so that we could just hear the menu". She added: "They thought it was hilarious. I suppose they never heard 'pleases' and 'do you minds'."

She says she told the management she wanted to move, at which point another table was found near the kitchen, which

was described to her as being "in Siberia". "And I said: "Siberia? at this point I'd be ready to go back to the colonies," she tells Stapleton.

"Now I was unaware, and probably should have been aware, that 'colonies' is a pejorative term in America and, you know, the last thing that I would do is to offend, to people I don't know.

"I am not rude. I think the bottom line is that it's a question of manners. Well, misunderstandings occur - people can mishear things."

The Princess was labelled a "royal bigot" by the New York Post newspaper, with one of the diners, Nicole Young, claiming that minutes after her arrival, the Princess "reached over and just slammed her open palm down on our table.

"She said, 'Enough already! You need to quiet down." It was then, Ms Young claimed, that the Princess insulted the group, leaning towards one of them, pumping her fist and saying: "You need to go back to the colonies!"

In the TV interview, the princess also hits out at critics who say she and her husband pay only a peppercorn rent to live at Kensington Palace.

She tells Stapleton that she chose the "smallest apartment" and says she only has two "dailies" to help maintain it - and she does the cooking herself.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/12140544?source=Evening%20Standard

Another:

http://www.itv.com/news/957773.html