There are a lot of different happenings surrounding the royal family that have caused people to think twice about how things are done. The spirit of tradition has kept many things the same, but some of those things require serious updates.
In a 2021 investigation, The Guardian revealed "the royal family's use of an arcane parliamentary procedure, known as Queen's consent, to secretly influence the content of British laws." In doing so, it uncovered documents in the UK National Archives that reveal racism written into royal family hiring policies, as recommended by then Queen Elizabeth's courtiers. It was allowed to happen thanks to an exemption for the Queen and her household from race and sex hiring discrimination laws.
These practices were put in place in the late 1960s to keep people of color out of clerical roles in the royal household and on behalf of the royal family.
New documents are revealing the hiring practices the royal family was getting away with behind the scenes for many years. The Guardian uncovered documents in the UK National Archives that tell the story of discriminatory hiring practices at Buckingham Palace.
To understand the significance of the documents, first a quick history lesson on UK hiring laws. In the early 1960s, the government began working on making it illegal to discriminate against a person because of race when hiring for a job. It now appears that the Queen has been exempt from these laws for more than four decades. Not only can these exemptions impact hiring, but it keeps women and people of color who work for the royal household from complaining to the courts if they believe they have been discriminated against.
Buckingham Palace responded to The Guardian and did not dispute being exempt from the laws. The palace also emphasized that it has a separate process for hearing complaints related to discrimination. Still, that doesn't change the fact that as more laws have been passed, there's more the royal household has managed to become exempt from.
The documents show that government officials worked on the wording of these laws with the Queen's courtiers to assure the royal household would skate through. It's bad on its own, but when you consider how much the royal family has struggled with racial relations in recent years, it's especially appalling.
This was uncovered as part of The Guardian's investigation into the continued use of a negotiation tactic called Queen's consent, "an obscure parliamentary mechanism through which the monarch grants parliament permission to debate laws that affect her and her private interests."
Buckingham Palace says this exists as a formality, but other sources believe the Queen exercises that right more than people think, objecting to things that are not in her interest.
One document shows that in February 1968, a Home Office civil servant named TG Weiler wrote about the progress of discussions about racial discrimination laws with the keeper of the privy purse, Lord Tryon. Lord Tryon was responsible for managing the Queen's finances and those of the courtiers.
While Tryon said that Buckingham Palace was prepared to comply with the proposed law, he could only guarantee it if the palace was provided similar exemptions to those provided to the diplomatic service, such as the ability to reject job applicants who had been UK residents for less than five years.
By the following month, they were ready to move forward. A Home Office official noted that the courtiers "agreed that the way was now open for the secretary of state to seek the Queen's consent to place her interest at the disposal of parliament for the purpose of the bill." This insinuates, to many, that the Queen would not have given her consent for Parliament to debate the racial equality law unless the palace was guaranteed the exemption.
"The royal household and the sovereign comply with the provisions of the Equality Act, in principle and in practice. This is reflected in the diversity, inclusion and dignity at work policies, procedures and practices within the royal household," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
"Any complaints that might be raised under the act follow a formal process that provides a means of hearing and remedying any complaint," the statement continued, though there was no mention of whether or not the law applied to the Queen or reigning monarch in particular.
