Prince Harry and Meghan

Diana was a 20-ish kindergarden assistant whose idea of seeing the world was a trip south of the river. I think we're in slightly different territory here.

One thing to remember as details of the interview emerge, the Duchess of Sussex is an experienced actress.

No. Even as someone who is white and from an entirely white family I cannot envisage any circumstance where that question or conversation is appropriate for the white person to ask/start.

If any white person is curious or ignorant of those type of issues, we must do own research, not ask an offensive question that in any circumstance could easily be misinterpreted. To do so is white privilege and shouldn't happen.

From what I've read the rest sounds like Meghan has suffered from her own naivety (how could you not know that you curtesy to any monarch, let alone the Queen? Every American will have heard of Michelle Obama's experience with protocol at least!) and that they are at least to some extent bitter about being cut off financially (what did they expect?), none of which I have much sympathy for at all. And revealing the gender of their child on a TV interview smacks of being desperate for publicity.

But the racist comment/question is something they should have called out a long time ago, rather than storing up for Oprah. Sadly it is not something that surprises me about the Royal Family and I can pretty much guess who the most likely culprits are.

The rules about which royal babies gets to be a Prince or Princess were set by George V. Yes there have been some deviations from those rules over the years but the fundamental rules have not been altered.

The most frustrating part of this for me is that most of the allegations made cannot be directly answered by those who were said to have acted badly or inappropriately. It is very easy to make allegations when you know that those you are calling out aren't in a position to respond.

Of course everyone is free to chart their own way through life as best they can. No-one should be forced to stay in circumstances where they are unhappy.

But if you are joining an institution with a very particular way of operating then you do so with your eyes open. It is not as if any of the issues around lack of personal freedom for Royals are unknown. Even before The Crown, details about the way 'The Firm' operates have been circulating for years. Is it a healthy way of living? Almost certainly not. But you have to do your own work before making the commitment to become part of it.

Any actor who wishes to succeed in a role has to read the script, do the research and talk to the director and other creatives.

You think she is acting? Is Harry acting also?

If you buy into the white privilege argument then you as a white person shouldn't even be commenting on that issue, it is not for you to deem what is "offensive" or "appropriate".  

If you take that view you are perpetuating the problem. It really doesn't require a huge amount of thought to realise that any question about someone's skin colour might be considered inappropriate by someone of a different racial background and to choose to do your own research rather than asking the question.

That is not me making any sort of judgment on what IS offensive or inappropriate, but on what MIGHT be (though in this case it is blindingly obvious that it is in any context) and choosing accordingly not to ask the question. I am choosing not to put someone of different racial heritage in a position that may be uncomfortable to them - it is not my place to decide that they should have to tolerate that when the topic is race. If they want to start that conversation then it is an entirely different scenario as that is their right, not mine.

If anything else it is just basic politeness and consideration for someone else who is in a situation that because of my racial background I cannot possibly fully understand. But my responsibility is to learn about it in a respectful way, not expect that I can find out by asking questions no-one would ever dream or asking a white person.

And the generational argument is no excuse. There is no excuse for any level of racism, whether deliberately or not. I'm astonished at some of the responses I have read on here and elsewhere following this interview. It's sad to see the extent that lack of racial understanding and compassion are still a huge problem.

I note two "clarifications" thus far:

1 - the wedding 3 days before the Royal Wedding was a private exchange of personal vows. So the Royal Wedding was the real thing. There is nothing at all wrong with doing that. Or even viewing it as the key point in your relationship. But it was not a wedding.

2 - assuring everyone that it wasn't the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh who were alleged to have asked racist questions.

I really don't like people who make serious allegations whilst at the same time creating speculation as to who did the thing bring alleged by keeping the identity secret yet at the same time giving hints.

If you don't feel able to name and shame in public then you should keep it private and deal with it in other ways.

Racist attitudes should be called out. But the way this has been handled is wrong.

Can only hope it wakes some people up and gets a bigger conversation going. Fair play to Harry and Meghan for getting out and for speaking out, I think it is a better way than naming who said something that is pretty horrendous. 

Prefer that is done behind closed doors. Can't believe you wanted the hand grenade to be a nuke really