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Whoopi Goldberg slammed for demanding apology from British royal family for colonial past

Goldberg was talking about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s tour of the Caribbean on ‘The View’ when she took a dig at the royals

Whoopi Goldberg has been criticized for asking for an apology from the British royal family for their colonial past. The television personality was talking about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s tour of the Caribbean during an episode of ‘The View’ on Thursday, March 24, when she took a dig at the royals.

She said, “Britain ran ram shod over India for years. Let us not forget when we talk about what needs to happen, all the folks that need to apologize.” The show’s co-host Sunny Hostin then pointed out, “The Brits are calling this the charm offensive, and they need to call it that. The Brits rarely, especially the royals, rarely talk about their history of enslavement. They rarely talk about how they got their wealth off the backs of Black people.” Hostin also mentioned Prince Charles’ acceptance of Britain's imperialist history when he went to Barbados last year.

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To which, Goldberg stated: “Listen, this is not new. I suspect Charles, when he was in Barbados, had some idea because he went on and apologized. Yes, he was releasing the hold that Britain has,” before noting, “So perhaps someone is listening, and it's the new group of folks. I don't know if it's Charles, but one of them.”

The 66-year-old made remarks after the Duke of Cambridge gave a speech at a state dinner on Wednesday, March 23, in Jamaica. He said, “I strongly agree with my father, The Prince of Wales, who said in Barbados last year that the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history. I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent. And it should never have happened. While the pain runs deep, Jamaica continues to forge its future with determination, courage and fortitude.”

The father-of-three added: “The strength and shared sense of purpose of the Jamaican people, represented in your flag and motto, celebrate an invincible spirit. It is this same spirit that spurred on the Windrush generation, who came to the United Kingdom to help rebuild after the Second World War. We are forever grateful for the immense contribution that this generation and their descendants have made to British life, which continues to enrich and improve our society. I'm delighted that a national monument acknowledging and celebrating the Windrush generation by Jamaican artist, Basil Watson, will be unveiled later this year in Waterloo Station in London.”

Meanwhile, Goldberg’s words have not been taken kindly by people online as a critic tweeted, “Whoopie needs to apologize for Rwandan genocide. Makes no sense why but I'm going to say it anyway.” “Don't hear the American people apologising for the genocide they carried out on the Native American people....mmm we can all pick random acts from history and fit it to our agenda…” the second one wrote. The third one added: “Maybe it's time to stop making people apologise for something their ancestors did. Should we demand constant apologies from Germans born post-war? How about Italians for their alliance. Maybe we should only demand apologies for ongoing wars and modern slavery around the world.”

A user slammed her by saying, “Has Goldberg asked the US to apologise for the slave trade? Is she aware that the UK spent the equivalent of GDP and tasked the Royal Navy to combat the slave trade? Probably not, because its easier to jump on a bandwagon than it is to research history. We've done our bit!” Another one noted: “Hang on, the British Empire were the biggest influence into ending the slave trade and started to police it using the Royal Navy to catch slave ships paid off people at home to stop using slaves for labour etc. Plus it’s history it’s how we learn from it that makes the difference. In addition there is no excuse for our participation in the slave trade and genocides etc. But when you blame us you at least have to credit the British Empire for trying to put it right.”