Ngozi Fulani has said she was ‘denied’ her nationality during encounter with Lady Susan Hussey.
Joining Mark Longhurst on GB News, the chief executive of Sistah Space recalled her experience.
Ngozi Fulani, founder of the charity Sistah Space, expressed her shock at her treatment by the late Queen’s lady in waiting, Lady Susan Hussey, but said she has yet to be contacted by Buckingham Palace to discuss the incident.
Joining Mark Longhurst on GB News, the chief executive of Sistah Space recalled her experience.
GB News
Lady Susan, the Prince of Wales’s 83-year-old godmother, resigned from the household and apologised after she repeatedly challenged Ms Fulani when she said was British at the Queen Consort’s reception highlighting violence against women and girls.
She said: “This happened over about five or six minutes. So when she asked where I'm from, I said Sistah Space, because obviously it's about domestic abuse and there are a lot of agencies there.
“So I thought she meant where are you from in terms of who you representing? Then she said, ‘no, where are you from?’
“And so we said Hackney, because that's where we're based. And then she said, ‘Where are you from?’
"So I said, ‘me? I'm born here.
“So this went on. I mean, if you want to find out something about somebody, you ask a question once or twice, once you've got the answer, you move on, right?
“And because this whole thing is about domestic abuse, there were other questions, but the first thing she did as well is to take my hair and move it out of the way.
“That's the first thing. No hello, no nothing, and I've never done that.
“I really think that we need to respect people's personal space.”
She later continued: “Had she just kept asking the question, that would have been one thing, but what sealed it for me is when she said, ‘oh, I can see I'm going to have a challenge with you’.
“When she's learned that my parents came here in the 50s as part of the Windrush generation, she then said, ‘AHA, I knew we'd get there in the end’.
“So it was something she was driving at. It's not acceptable and although it's uncomfortable for people to hear, trust me, it's much more uncomfortable to be in a space and being denied your nationality until they get the answer they want.
“So I'm very clear this wasn't somebody being curious because I'm about that, this was something different.”
The Palace was understood on Wednesday to have reached out to Ms Fulani through one of the organisations with which she is aligned.
Lady Susan, the Prince of Wales’s 83-year-old godmother, resigned from the household and apologised
Chris Radburn
William, who is on a trip to the Boston in the US with the Princess of Wales, backed the decision of his godmother to resign as a Lady of the Household.
A Kensington Palace spokesman issued a strong statement, saying: “Racism has no place in our society.
“The comments were unacceptable, and it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”
The Palace moved swiftly to respond to Ms Fulani’s tweets on Wednesday morning, saying it took the incident at Tuesday’s reception “extremely seriously” and had investigated immediately.
It added, not naming Lady Susan, that the individual concerned had resigned and apologised and that the comments were “unacceptable and deeply regrettable”.
Downing Street declined to comment on Lady Susan’s resignation, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman telling reporters: “It is a matter for the Palace.”
The King, who acceded to the throne less than three months ago, and Camilla have been made aware of the situation, the Palace said.