'Gilded Age' star Denée Benton believes Meghan Markle was 'set up for an incredible amount of abuse'
LONDON, ENGLAND: Actress Denée Benton believes that the lack of support from the system was the reason behind Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and her husband Prince Harry stepping down as senior royals.
The 'Gilded Age' star Benton recently sat down for an interview with British society magazine Tatler, where she was asked about her opinions on the treatment Meghan Markle and Prince Harry received from Royal Family and the British public when they returned to the UK for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
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"It's such a layered conversation. Being the first and only [person of color] you're really set up for an incredible amount of abuse," she told Tatler magazine. "The system isn't set up to support you. And I think that [because of] the lineage of the really profoundly devastating effects of colonization as it relates to the monarchy, you can't necessarily just pop a black person in."
Further, Benton talked about the level of institutional change required to accept a person of color in a tradition-based structure like the monarchy. She also stated Meghan stepped down from the royal duties in order to ‘protect’ herself and her family.
"It requires a lot of reckoning. Unless you're ready to do that work, then the person who's put in that position ends up suffering more than the changes they can make. It's [going to take] much more than one person coming in to trigger all of that change." She added, "It doesn't really work. They just get eaten alive or make the choice to protect themselves and [in the latter case], I'm like, 'power to you sis'."
However, Queen’s service event was the only one on the Queen’s Jubilee itinerary that was publicly attended by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The event marked the first appearance of the couple with the firm after attending Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in March 2020.
Before attending Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, the Sussexes announced their departure from their roles as working royals in January 2020. They even moved to California with their two children Archie and Lilibet. The departure of the couple from their royal duties was the result of their ongoing tiff that was sparked after their interview with Oprah Winfrey made headlines in 2021. During the interview, the couple talked about the importance of race to maintain a relationship with British media.
When discussing the negative aspects of their experiences as working royals with the media, particularly after the publication of an article by the Daily Mail titled 'Harry's girl is (almost) straight outta Compton', the prince told Winfrey: "What was different for me was the race element, because now it wasn't just about her, but it is about what she represents. And therefore it wasn't just affecting my wife. It was affecting so many other people as well. And that was the trigger for me to really engage in those conversations with Palace..."
The couple also went on to reveal that an unnamed member of the royal family had made racially insensitive comments about the skin color of their potential future children.