[kreuzberger]

Maybe I am being just a mite too prickly but I think that the kerfuffle with Lady Racist Old-Bag is even worse than it looks.

"I knew we would get there in the end", is pretty much a full admission that she does this all the time.

Erm, does what? "Othering", that is what she was doing.

She was trying her best to establish and prove that Ngozi Fulani doesn't really belong. "Listen, missy, you might have been invited to the Palace but you'll never be one of us."

Less subtly, "don't get above your station."

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Spot on.

[Oboogie]

I'm sure we all recall Megan & Harry's claims of racism in the Royal household? At the time many of us pointed the finger at Phillip. However, now I've heard from a few sources that initiating Megan into all things Windsor was one of Hussey's duties, I'm starting to doubt that assumption.

[Youngian]

Pleasantly surprised Charles asked for her job instead of getting a pass with ‘the old dear’s getting on a bit and likes a gin.’

[Yug]

Boiler has pointed out to me that Lady Susan Hussey is the widow of Marmaduke Hussey, the Tory stooge who Thatcher imposed on the BBC as chairman, after the BBC, with the then DG Alasdair Milne (father of Seamus Milne) broadcast a couple of programmes which Thatcher took exception to.

As Abers says: "It's all fucking connected".

[davidjay]

You knew there'd be a backlash and "You're the real racists" would get an airing. Maybe she is a daft old bat and her sense of entitlement would be the same regardless of colour or heritage, but to say "Where are you really from?" reinforces the idea that no matter how many generations of your family were born in Britain, you'll never really be British.

[Andy McDandy]

Amazing how they manage to be sharp as a knife, always courteous and discreet, utterly professional despite their age; and doddering old dears, having to adjust to all this modern stuff.

[Oboogie]

Heard a bit of Shelagh Fogarty's LBC show. White callers condemning Hussey and agreeing that of course Ngozi Fulani was right to say she is British, because she is. However, lots of people of colour phoning in, and whilst also condemning Hussey, saying that by answering, "I'm British", Ngozi Fulani is denying her African heritage. They embrace the opportunity to educate white bigots about their Caribbean (and in one case, Bangladeshi) heritage.
I admit, that took me by surprise, but then I'm white so my opinion doesn't mean much.

[Oboogie]

Boiler has pointed out to me that Lady Susan Hussey is the widow of Marmaduke Hussey, the Tory stooge who Thatcher imposed on the BBC as chairman, after the BBC, with the then DG Alasdair Milne (father of Seamus Milne) broadcast a couple of programmes which Thatcher took exception to.

As Abers says: "It's all fucking connected".

Her maternal grandfather was Field Marshal Francis Wallace Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell, GCB, GCMG, PC (Ire).
Grenfell Tower is named after him.

[Yug]

However, lots of people of colour phoning in, and whilst also condemning Hussey, saying that by answering, "I'm British", Ngozi Fulani is denying her African heritage.

These people obviously missed the point. Ms Fulani, upon answering "I'm British" to someone who asked where she's from, was repeatedly asked "Where are you really from? Hussey wasn't asking about Ms Fulani's heritage, she was saying "You're not British, where are you really from!". Which is totally fucking racist. Hussey wasn't interested in her heritage, she was stating "If you're not white you can't be British", which is pretty much what you'd expect from a dyed-in-the-wool Tory whose husband was personally selected by Thatcher do do a hatchet-job on the BBC.

[Oboogie]

However, lots of people of colour phoning in, and whilst also condemning Hussey, saying that by answering, "I'm British", Ngozi Fulani is denying her African heritage.

These people obviously missed the point. Ms Fulani, upon answering "I'm British" to someone who asked where she's from, was repeatedly asked "Where are you really from? Hussey wasn't asking about Ms Fulani's heritage, she was saying "You're not British, where are you really from!". Which is totally fucking racist. Hussey wasn't interested in her heritage, she was stating "If you're not white you can't be British", which is pretty much what you'd expect from a dyed-in-the-wool Tory whose husband was personally selected by Thatcher do do a hatchet-job on the BBC.

Obviously it was racist and no caller I heard claimed it wasn't. They were saying that racism should be called out and that, in their opinion, saying "I'm British" is not the most effective way to do that.
What point do you think they missed?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

An aside.

Just before lockdown grandson #1 had his birthday party at a church hall in Bermondsey. In the church next door there was a big, noisy wedding going on, full to the rafters of people in traditional African dress.

I asked a couple of the ladies who came out for a breather where they were from, meaning what was their heritage, and they told me, laughed a lot and fussed about posing for a couple of photos. We chatted and I went into the church with them for a minute.

It all depends on how you ask...

[MisterMuncher]

Somehow, I can't picture you battering on like a fuckwit until you'd browbeaten them, Mal.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I grin a lot...


Serious point - if approached with a smile, genuine interest and a polite demeanour most people wouldn't be offended by the question, and would seek the genuine interest.

I suspect that La Hussey (wife of Marmaduke, don't forget) exhibited none of those behaviours. And Ms Fulani strikes me as the sort of person who wasn't looking to take offence until it hit her in the chops.

[satnav]

I just wonder with this story if the Palace have seen a draft copy of Harry's book in which Hussey will definitely feature because she was the Lady in Waiting charged with telling Meghan what she could and couldn't do as a member of the royal family. If the book reveals more examples of Hussey being racist then getting rid of her now will probably spare the Palace more embarrassment when the book finally comes out.

[Oboogie]

I just wonder with this story if the Palace have seen a draft copy of Harry's book in which Hussey will definitely feature because she was the Lady in Waiting charged with telling Meghan what she could and couldn't do as a member of the royal family. If the book reveals more examples of Hussey being racist then getting rid of her now will probably spare the Palace more embarrassment when the book finally comes out.

Do you think they put her up to it?

[davidjay]

As predicted/predictable, the Twitter fightback is in full flow, aided by a lot of firstnamestringofnumbers with flags in their profile and a timeline of bigotry.

[Bones McCoy]

"She shouldn't have dressed like an African then" is the latest nonsense doing the rounds on twitter.

It's all going Constable Savage very fast.

[MisterMuncher]

They're noticably coy on following up that logic, like at what point is an outfit suitably beyond the typical that questioning is allowed.

[satnav]

I just wonder with this story if the Palace have seen a draft copy of Harry's book in which Hussey will definitely feature because she was the Lady in Waiting charged with telling Meghan what she could and couldn't do as a member of the royal family. If the book reveals more examples of Hussey being racist then getting rid of her now will probably spare the Palace more embarrassment when the book finally comes out.

Do you think they put her up to it?

I'm not sure but if Hussey did have a history of making similar remarks in the past inviting her along to an event like this does seem either very reckless or very calculated. Wasn't there a story last week suggesting that Camilla was going to do away with Ladies in Waiting which probably suggests that Lady Hussey and co. were on their way out.