英王室、有色人種の事務職雇用禁止か　文書記録が浮上

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英国のエリザベス女王の側近らが、バッキンガム宮殿の事務職について、少なくとも１９６０年代末まで「有色人種の移民や外国人」の雇用を禁じていたことが、文書記録から明らかになった。英紙ガーディアンが２日、報じた。（写真は資料写真）
　同紙によると、女王と王室は人種差別と性差別を禁じた１９７０年代の法律の適用免除措置も取り付けており、免除は現在も続いている。
　同紙は国立公文書館に保管されていた文書記録を引用し、１９６８年に女王の財務責任者が雇用方針について政府高官に説明したことがあったとしている。
　文書には、同責任者が「有色人種の移民や外国人」を事務職などに任命することは慣行ではなく、「有職人種の応募者」の採用が検討されるのは「一般的な家事などの職」のみだと話したと書かれていた。
　同紙によれば、この方針がいつまで続いたかは不明だが、バッキンガム宮殿は１９９０年代には有色人種の職員の雇用記録があったと明かしている。それ以前は、職員の人種に関する記録を残していなかったという。
　これについて王室報道官は、「５０年以上前の会話に関する間接的な記録に基づいた主張は、今日の出来事や運営に関する結論や臆測に用いられるべきではない」とする声明を出した。
　今回の報道を受け、英王室で過去に取り沙汰された人種差別問題に再び注目が集まるとみられている。
　３月にはヘンリー王子とメーガン妃夫妻が、誕生前だった第１子の肌の色について、ある王室メンバーが懸念を示していたと暴露。これを受け、ヘンリー王子の兄のウィリアム王子は記者らに対し、英王室は決して人種差別主義ではないと断言していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/06/04-12:28）

Senior aides to Queen Elizabeth II barred the hiring of coloured immigrants or foreigners in office roles at Buckingham Palace until at least the late 1960s, a media report said Thursday.
The Queen and Britain's royal household also negotiated an exemption from 1970s-era laws on race and sex discrimination that still exists today, The Guardian reported.
Citing historical papers it unearthed at the National Archives, the newspaper said that in 1968, the Queen's chief financial manager told government officials of the hiring policy towards ethnic minorities.
It was not, in fact, the practice to appoint coloured immigrants or foreigners to clerical and other office posts, one document quoted the royal courtier as having stated.
Coloured applicants were considered only for ordinary domestic posts, it added.
It is unclear when the policy ended, but Buckingham Palace has said its records show people from ethnic minority backgrounds being employed in the 1990s, The Guardian noted.
The palace added it did not keep records on the racial backgrounds of employees prior to that, according to the paper.
A palace spokeswoman said in a statement: Claims based on a second-hand account of conversations from over 50 years ago should not be used to draw or infer conclusions about modern-day events or operations.
She added the royal household complied with the provisions of the 2010 Equality Act in principle and in practice.
Any complaints that might be raised under the Act follow a formal process that provides a means of hearing and remedying any complaint, the spokeswoman said.
The revelations are the latest in an ongoing investigation by The Guardian into the royal family's use of an arcane parliamentary procedure -- known as Queen's consent -- to influence British legislation.
The official documents show senior aides to Britain's longest-serving monarch coordinated with government officials on the wording of new racial and sexual equalities laws in the 1970s.
The exemption secured for the royal household meant a government board, rather than the courts, has since dealt with allegations of discrimination within the royal household.
The disclosures are likely to renew focus on allegations of historical and more recent racism with the British royal family.
In a bombshell interview earlier this year, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle revealed a family member had expressed concern about their expected child's skin colour.
Shock at the claim prompted Prince William, second-in-line to the throne and Harry's elder brother, to tell reporters in March that the family was very much not racist.