Prince William, 39, has been accused of racism after giving a speech at the Tusk Conservation Awards, a ceremony that celebrates African-based leaders in the field of wildlife conservation.
During the speech, the Duke of Cambridge made a comment on the African population that has been widely criticized on Twitter.
According to The Times, the 39-year-old prince made the following remarks:
“The increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces as a result of human population presents a huge challenge for conservationists, as it does the world over,” Prince William said in his speech.”
“But it is imperative that the natural world is protected not only for its contribution to our economies, jobs and livelihoods, but for the health, well-being and future of humanity,” he added. “We owe it to our children and future generations to act now”.
The Duke, a father of three, didn’t specifically mention population growth, Newsweek reported. However, his comments have been condemned on Twitter, with many accusing him of racism, hypocrisy, and privilege.
In Prince William’s speech, he suggested that a rising human population in the country was ‘increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces’.
After his speech, many people were left feeling deeply uncomfortable about his choice of words here, given the Royal family’s colonialist past.
“If the natives keep reproducing, there won’t be as many impalas for me to shoot!” commentator Michael Knowles said. “Morally backward as this line of thinking is, one cannot help but be amused by the audacity.”
“Prince William has just gone full blown racist I see,” another Twitter user commented. “Bold for someone who’s family subjugated approximately 1/4 or more of the planet and for a man who has three kids himself. And who flew helicopters (emissions for days) for a job.”
“This racist [redacted] is telling black people to stop having kids for the sake of the planet, but he lives in a palace with hundreds of rooms with his three kids,” a third wrote. “He also flies in private jets and helicopters. Make this make sense.”
The latest controversy comes just months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, in which they alleged that there had been talks between the Royals about how dark her son Archie’s skin tone would be.
At that time, Prince William declared and made it clear that they were very much not a racist family during a visit to a school in Stanford, London.