Prince William, Kate Reveal Diversity Data 3 Years After Race Storm

Prince William and Princess Kate have hit internal targets for diversity among their employees three years after Meghan Markle’s account of comments within the royal family on her the unborn child’s skin tone.

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ household employs 66 people of whom 14 percent [around nine] were from ethnic minority backgrounds.

And 67 percent were female while 33 percent were male, or around 44 and 22 people respectfully.

Prince William and Princess Kate in Cardiff, Wales, on October 3, 2023. The Prince and Princess of Wales have hit their diversity targets.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Buckingham Palace has its own diversity figures based on the makeup of its own separate staff and has set itself a target of 14 percent by 2025.

King Charles III’s royal household recorded 11.4 percent of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds with a mean pay gap of 3.9 percent, meaning ethnic minority staff were on average paid less than white staff.

And 53 percent of employees were female with a gender pay gap of 2.2 percent, compared to a national average of 14.3 percent. That means the palace is closer to parity than the average British company, but is still not providing equal pay.

Overall, the Buckingham Palace workforce does appear to be getting more diverse year after year, though it has not yet hit its goals.

The drive to release the data came after Meghan used her Oprah Winfrey interview to accuse an unnamed royal of having concerns and conversations about how dark her unborn child’s skin might be.

Royal biography Endgame later accidentally named King Charles III as the royal Meghan was referring to in its Dutch language edition.

The book, by Omid Scobie, suggested Kate had been present in the room at the time and said Charles wrote to Meghan after the CBS tell-all to say there had been no malice intended in remarks made.

Meghan told Oprah: “In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time… so we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

The Sovereign Grant Report, an annual financial review released on July 24, read: “Work has continued in support of the royal household’s inclusion and diversity strategy which aims to improve representation, but also to support a wholesale approach to ensuring the royal household’s culture is inclusive, encouraging engagement and authenticity across all teams.”

“To demonstrate progress, the royal household has voluntarily disclosed the gender pay gap for 5 April 2024 in this report, ahead of the requirement for inclusion in next year’s report one year in arrears,” the document continued.

“In addition, the royal household has voluntarily disclosed the ethnic minority pay gap for the first time in this report.”

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.

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