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Queen Elizabeth's Nazi salute from 1933 resurfaces after Meghan Markle's racism claims in Oprah Winfrey interview

Old footage showing the Queen and her mother doing the Nazi salute went viral on social media after Meghan accused the royal family of racism over Archie

Back in 2015, The Sun published a film that showed the Queen Mother, Elizabeth I, along with the Queen, Elizabeth II, and Prince Edward all raising their arms in what seems like a Nazi salute. At the time, Buckingham Palace downplayed the footage, claiming it was "disappointing that film, shot eight decades ago... has been obtained and exploited". Now, the topic has resurfaced on Twitter after Meghan Markle and Harry's shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The couple alleged that the family was racist as it enquired about their son Archie's skin colour. The couple also revealed that the family said Archie would not be entitled to a formal title or security. Now, many have taken to social media to reshare the old images, supposedly taken in 1933. When the images were first released, it caused massive backlash in the UK, especially since Prince Edward visited Germany in 1937, prior to the war. The Palace is yet to respond to Meghan and Harry's allegations, which spilled a lot of secrets about life inside Buckingham Palace. The resurfacing of the old images does little to help the royal family, who are facing intense criticism both in the UK and abroad.

Nazi salute image is real

The 17-second black and white footage was first released by The Sun, taken in the gardens of Balmoral castle. In it, The Queen Mother raises her arm in the style of a Nazi salute and, after glancing towards her mother, the Queen mimics the gesture. Prince Edward, the future Edward VIII, is also seen raising his arm. It is unclear what the circumstances of the footage are, but given that it was shot in 1933 when Hitler was rising to power, many have claimed it is indeed the Nazi salute.

Buckingham Palace did not deny the footage, but said that "no-one at that time had any sense how it would evolve. To imply anything else is misleading and dishonest". The scoop caused immense global outrage, with The Sun defending the publication. The then-managing editor Stig Abell said that the footage was of "historical significance" given Prince Edward's publicly known sympathies towards Hitler. "We are not using it to suggest any impropriety on behalf of them. But it is an important and interesting issue, the extent to which the British aristocracy — notably Edward VIII, in this case — in the 1930s, were sympathetic towards fascism," he said. 

Price Edward visited and dined with Hitler in 1937, and there is also evidence that he visited a concentration camp at the time. Since the Queen was about seven when the footage was taken, the Palace has defended her saying she was "entirely innocent of attaching any meaning to these gestures".

Images resurface after racism allegations

Now, the images have resurfaced on Twitter with many people venting their anger at the royal family. One user asked, "Did #MeghanMarkle know that there was a secret 1933 film which showed Edward VIII teaching the Nazi salute to the future Queen?" Another tweeted, "You know full well the royal family is racist, including the Queen. They have roots in Nazism. Prince Philip has made so many slurs. Princess Michael's dad was in Hitler's army & she slurs black people. King George took pics with Hitler. The Queen & her mum did the Nazi salute."

Replying to a tweet about the shocking nature of the allegations, another commented "It's not like we weren't told. Here's the future Edward VIII and future Queen mother teaching a young Elizabeth the Nazi salute. When this was published in 2015, then Queen Elizabeth said she regretted it was published. Not performed, just published."

These remarks were made by third-person and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently nor does it support these claims.