Leaked documents show that Buckingham Palace banned people of color from undertaking office roles for the royal family until at least the late 1960s.
According to files obtained by The Guardian from the UK's National Archives, Queen Elizabeth II's chief financial manager informed civil servants in 1968 it was not "the practice to appoint colored immigrants or foreigners" to clerical roles in the royal household.
However, the documents do show that people of color were permitted to work as domestic staff and servants within the royal family. It is currently unclear when these rules changed.
The Guardian reports that Buckingham Palace has declined to answer questions about the ban, with a spokesperson for the Royal Family claiming that their records showed people from ethnic minority backgrounds had been employed as office staff in the 1990s.
The spokesperson added that before that Buckingham Palace did not keep records on the racial backgrounds of employees until that time, which further complicates the issue.
On social media, a number of Twitter users have since reacted with outrage to the revelations.
For instance, Labour Member of Parliment Bell Ribeiro-Addy wrote: "The monarchy is a public institution funded by public money.
"It is only right that they respond to these revelations and tell the public what they intend to do to address allegations & incidents of institutional racism past & present."
Journalist Kevin McGuire wrote: "What was it those reactionaries were saying about how Meghan Markle couldn’t possibly have encountered racism?"
Columnist Aufa Hirsch took to Twitter to write: "Anyone surprised needs to brush up on their 20th century British history.
"Our immigration rules, policy towards multiple colonies, & recruitment practices across civil service were explicitly racist & white supremacist."
Finally, another commenter wrote: "What interests me more than this scoop is the fact that the Queen's exemption from equalities law has been considered completely un-newsworthy for decades.
"The monarchy is the single least-scrutinized arm of our government."
The Guardian's report shows that the Queen has been exempt from race and gender equality laws since their introduction in the UK in the 1970s.
This means that it is impossible for people working for her household to launch a complaint in British courts if they believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of their race or gender.
