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07/24/2004:
"Princess disguised herself as a 'half-caste' for Africa trip"
by Oliver Poole UK TelegraphPrincess 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".
Princess Michael: 'I'm foreign, which is never quite accepted'
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."full article
I'm surprised they didn't break into one of their quaint tribal dances or a minstrel shuffle.
