The Queen was a ‘creature of the 1950s’ who felt most comfortable around people from a ‘narrow social circle,’ a new book claims

Queen Elizabeth II at the 2019 Braemar Highland Games in 2019. Samir Hussein/WireImage Buckingham Palace previously said the diversity among members of staff needs to be improved.   According to the author of a new royal book, a lack of progress could be related to the Queen.

“The Queen herself is a creature of the 1950s,” author Valentine Low wrote of the royal. One of the reasons diversity is low at Buckingham Palace is because the Queen was a “creature of the 1950s,” a new royal book says. Valentine Low, a Times of London royal correspondent, authored “Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown,” which was released in the UK on Thursday.

In the book, he traces the modern history of the royal family through the lens of courtiers, a term used for the people working within each royal household.  Toward the end of the book, Low touches on accusations of racism levied at the royals, most recently brought to the fore by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s 2020 sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey. As Insider previously reported, that interview – where Harry revealed that racism among the UK press contributed to the couple’s decision to exit royal life – is just one example in a line of many when the royals have been accused of turning a blind eye to racism.

But when it comes to race within Buckingham Palace itself, Low wrote that a lack of progress in diversifying royal staff may have come from the top. The Queen was 96 when she died on September 8 and her reign began in 1953, when the UK was a very different sociopolitical landscape. “There is a reason why those closest to the Queen are drawn from such a narrow social circle: it is because the Queen is a woman of a certain generation and class, and they are the people she feels comfortable with,” Low wrote.

“The Queen herself is a creature of the 1950s. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty ImagesLow included a quote from an unnamed “insider,” who said that “the DNA of the palace is rooted in the 1950s and it hasn’t changed.

“A person, who Low identified as a former member of the royal household, said classism exists in the palace “whether we like it or not. “”The people who work with them need to be comfortable with them,” they said. “You’ve got to be able to sit next to the Queen at dinner and know how to operate the place setting.

And know how to have a conversation with her. So I think there’s an immediate thing around her which makes it quite difficult to diversify. “That individual said it was “a problem” because no one within the royal institution can then really understand “the world outside the world they inhabit.

“Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip waved to crowds at Buckingham Palace following her 1953 coronation. Keystone-France/Getty ImagesBuckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. However, it previously acknowledged that it could be doing more to diversify its staff.

According to Town & Country, the Royal Household reported in March that the proportion of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds in the royal household stood at 9. 6%, up from 8. 5% the previous year.

 The results come a year after Buckingham Palace reportedly paused efforts to hire a diversity chief, a position the institution previously announced it was looking to fill after Meghan and Harry accused an unnamed member of the royal family of making racist remarks about their son Archie before he was born.  The outlet reported that the results came as part of the annual royal finances briefing, held by The Keeper of the Privy Purse and treasurer to the Queen, Sir Michael Stevens. King Charles III hosts a reception to celebrate British South Asian communities at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on October 3 in Scotland.

Kirsty O’Connor – Pool/Getty ImagesStevens told reporters that while it was good to see improvements, Buckingham Palace remains “very conscious that the results are not quite where we want them to be, but it remains a real focus for everyone in the household. “While King Charles has yet to acknowledge diversity at Buckingham Palace as an issue since his reign started, he has gone on record to say he views protecting diversity in the UK as one of his duties as a monarch. According to The Guardian, he told more than 30 faith leaders at a Buckingham Palace reception on September 16 that he’s “always thought of Britain as a ‘community of communities.

‘””That has led me to understand that the sovereign has an additional duty – less formally recognised but to be no less diligently discharged,” Charles added. “It is the duty to protect the diversity of our country, including by protecting the space for faith itself and its practice through the religions, cultures, traditions and beliefs to which our hearts and minds direct us as individuals. “Read the original article on Insider.