Wearing a blackamoor brooch to the Queen's annual Christmas lunch by a British Princess has sparked furore on the social media after some people called it "racist", forcing the royal to apologise, media reports said today.
Princess Michael of Kent, who is married to Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin, attended an annual Christmas banquet at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday wearing the blackamoor brooch, the BBC reported.
Blackamoor is a style of artwork dating back from the 17th and 18th Century which is usually found in sculpture, jewellery and textiles in which black men and women are often depicted as slaves.
But it is now considered to be racially insensitive and even the name has been slammed as a term of abuse for anyone with dark skin.
Prince Harry's fiance, American actress Meghan Markle, whose mother is black and who has often spoken of racism she experienced as a child and as an adult, was also a guest at the lunch, the report said.
This outraged social media users who slammed the royal for her choice in jewellery, forcing the Princess to apologise.
An spokesman said that the princess was "very sorry and distressed".
"The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. The princess is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence," spokesman Simon Astaire was quoted as saying by the BBC.
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