LONDON (AP) — The Guardian newspaper has reported that Buckingham Palace barred ethnic minorities from office jobs during the 1960s. The newspaper made the revelation on its front page Thursday based on documents in Britain’s National Archives. It said papers showed that Queen Elizabeth II’s chief financial manager told civil servants in 1968 that it was not the palace’s practice to hire “coloured immigrants or foreigners” for clerical posts and other office jobs. The palace replied forcefully to the historical allegations, stressing that the queen and her household comply “in principle and in practice” with anti-discrimination legislation. Race has become a central issue for the monarchy following Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s March interview with Oprah Winfrey.
