Al Sharpton blasts Meghan Markle backlash: It was 'somebody Black working in the C-suites' for the first time
Sharpton also slammed British presenter Jeremy Clarkson's controversial piece about the Duchess of Sussex
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Al Sharpton defended Meghan Markle from backlash on Tuesday, comparing her to "someone Black working in the C-suites," or executive-level positions in a company, for the first time.
Markle and her husband Prince Harry stepped down as British senior royals in January 2020 in the midst of media criticism about Markle's alleged behavior. In their departure, they decried what they called a lack of support from Buckingham Palace and racist press treatment of Markle, who is biracial. The couple moved to the U.S. and, in a few bombshell interviews and a Netflix docuseries called "Harry & Meghan," made several accusations against the Royal family, including how there was talk about their son Archie's skin color among the inner family circle.
Sharpton suggested that while the couple's wedding appeared to be universally celebrated, Markle had soon after been the victim of racism.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think when they were married it was a beautiful day," Sharpton said on "Good Morning Britain." "And people were celebrating how you saw this woman of color now in the Royal family, gospel songs there, sung at the ceremony, the Queen sitting there."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wave from the Ascot Landau Carriage at their star-studded wedding in 2018. (Aaron Chown)
"And then the reaction was so, so much acrimony," he continued. "And just looking to treat her differently. And people, who whether you were in the UK or around the world, they were always treated differently, understood what Meghan was going through. It was somebody Black working in the C-suites for the first time. And they treat you differently."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think she became a symbol not of her own making," he concluded.
‘ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY' HARRY AND MEGHAN STILL HAVE ROYAL TITLES, FUMES FORMER THATCHER AIDE
Meghan Markle. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Sharpton also weighed in on British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson's controversial piece in The Sun in December, in which he wrote that he hated the Duchess of Sussex "on a cellular level" and dreamed of her being paraded naked through British towns "while the crowds chant ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clarkson apologized for the write-up, saying he was "mortified" by it.
"I'm just not sexist and I abhor violence against women," he wrote. "And yet I seem to be advocating just that."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then on Christmas morning, I e-mailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too," he continued. "I said I was baffled by what they had been saying on TV but that the language I'd used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry."
Sharpton appeared to dismiss Clarkson's apology and called the article "mean-spirited."
Rev. Al Sharpton delivers a sermon during Sunday Chapel at Howard University Cramton Auditorium on October 09, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But what makes you feel that you can say that in the first place?" Sharpton asked. "And I think that in many ways they exposed what was already there. And then people try to blame Meghan for they are being exposed."
There's now speculation over whether Prince Harry and Markle will attend King Charles' coronation in May. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle on Sept. 8, 2022 at the age of 96. She was the longest-reigning monarch in British history.