Queen Elizabeth II and the British royal family support the Black Lives Matter movement, a senior aide to the monarch said.

       The remarks by Kenneth Olisa, the first Black lord-lieutenant for greater London, will be aired during a program on Britain’s Channel 4 on Friday. Olisa, who serves as the monarch’s personal representative for the British capital, said race had become a “hot conversation topic” in the royal family, especially since the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer last year.

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       The killing triggered a global debate about the treatment of Black people and other ethnic minorities, while raising questions about how to eradicate systemic racial discrimination.

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       “The question is, what more can we do to bind society to remove these barriers? [The royals] care passionately about making this one nation bound by the same values,” said Olisa, according to British media reports.

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       Olisa’s comments come as the royals face questions about whether their family is representative of a multicultural Britain. In March, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that members of the royal family had made racially offensive comments in private when she was pregnant with her first child, son Archie. Her husband is Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

       “Concerns” were raised about how dark the skin color of the couple’s son, could be, said Meghan, who is biracial. The Sussexes declined to name the person who allegedly made those comments. Winfrey later said the couple had told her that neither the Queen nor her husband had made those remarks.

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       Buckingham Palace said in a statement after the interview that the issues of race which were raised “are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”

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       In July, Prince William, Harry’s older brother, told reporters that the royals were “very much not a racist family.”

       Britain is undergoing a broader national conversation about race that is also fueled by the aftermath of England’s defeat to Italy in the UEFA European men’s soccer championship final in July.

       After the loss, there was racial abuse of English players who had missed penalty kicks, all of whom are Black. Racist comments were also sprayed on a mural of Marcus Rashford, one of the players who missed a penalty kick, in the Manchester United forward’s hometown. Supporters and residents quickly covered the remarks with messages of support.

       British police arrest 11 in probe of Euro 2020 racist abuse of Black players

       During the tournament, England players took a knee to express support for racial equality. Some fans booed, while a senior British official downplayed the kneeling as “gesture politics.”

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