Daily US Times: A charity has said Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey prompted it to speak out about a £10,000 donation she made.
The Duchess of Sussex gifted the money to Himmah, which works to tackle poverty and racism in Nottingham, in August but the charity kept it a secret.
Director of the charity Sajid Mohammad said it was feared Meghan was “like Marmite” and could damage Himmah’s reputation.
But he added that Meghan’s comments about racism made them want to “show solidarity”.
The money which Meghan donated, with funds from The Royal Foundation, has been used to stock the food bank and provide funds for the Salaam Shalom Kitchen, which is the only joint Muslim and Jewish community kitchen in the UK.
Mr Mohammad said that the reason they did not go public is the trustees took a view that the Duchess of Sussex was like Marmite and there could be reputational issues – people not liking the charity because they do not like her – so they decided to keep the donation secret.
He said after the interview of Oprah, they realised they are a poverty and race organisation [and] that they needed to show solidarity.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle opened up to the US interviewer about a number of topics, including racism and mental health.
Meghan said her husband had been asked by an unnamed member of royal family “how dark” their son Archie’s skin might be.
After the bombshell interview with Oprah, Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the race issues raised were “concerning”, and would be “taken very seriously” and dealt with privately.
Harry and Meghan also raised concerns about bigotry within the media.
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