LONDON (Bywire News) - Newly discovered documents have revealed that the UK Monarchy imposed rules to ban "coloured immigrants or foreigners" from working for them in office roles until possibly as late as the 1990s.
The papers, discovered in the National Archives by The Guardian, also show that Buckingham Palace managed to exempt themselves from having to adhere to race discrimination laws in the 1970s.
In one of the documents from 1968, a Home Office civil servant, TG Weiler, described how workers within the Palace were split into three hierarchical categories: Senior posts, clerical roles and ordinary domestic posts (servants).
Weiler went on to describe how "it was not, in fact [Buckingham Palace] policy to appoint coloured immigrants or foreigners" to either Senior Roles or Clerical roles.
And he went on to reveal that "coloured applicants" would only be considered for roles as servants.
Weiler's comments came in response to Lord Tryon, who was responsible for managing the Queen's private finances, about concerns that new proposed Race Relations laws would impact on the Monarchy's current discriminatory working practices.
According to Weiler, the Palace were only prepared to grant Queen's consent to debate the new laws in Parliament unless the Monarchy was made exempt.
As a result of the exemption, complaints made by workers within the Palace about racial discrimination were sent directly to the Home Secretary rather than the the Race Relations Board - the public body set up in the wake of the Race Relations laws to deal with such complaints from the public.
In response to the explosive new revelations, Buckingham Palace refused to confirm exactly when they actually stopped discriminating against ethnic minorities, stating:
"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.
“Any complaints that might be raised under the act follow a formal process that provides a means of hearing and remedying any complaint.”
However, the Royal Family still maintain their legal exemption from the 2010 Equality Act - which replaced anti-discrimination laws from the 60s/70s - to the present day.
You can view all the documents here.
(Writing by Tom D. Rogers, editing by Jessica Miller)