# Why no Black or Asian UK royals ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 19, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935 "2013-07-19T14:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/61 "2013-07-20T15:54:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, that’s history, they did things differently there. I don’t think it’s just to judge the current royal family by the actions of their ancestors. Hmm, sort of. Those imperial ancestors aren’t all that distant. Some of the royals are old enough to have actually had an empire under them. QEII for example, was still a princess before the loss of India. Would she not have been taught that she was in her position due to her racial superiority ? Have they really moved on ? Hope so. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/62 "2013-07-20T16:01:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Perhaps most importantly, the Japanese Imperial family makes the Windsors look like a bunch of hippies. I’ll bet they do. Have the Japanese never had the sort of loss of empire and heavy immigration that made UK confront itself to a high degree ? ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/63 "2013-07-20T16:06:01Z")
> [@](#): > > We haven’t exactly had a lot of weddings since religion and racism stopped being factors. True enough. Are any of them even dating or flirting with non-whites ? Diana was the last one to do that, no ? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/64 "2013-07-20T16:20:09Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > Hmm, sort of. Those imperial ancestors aren’t all that distant. Some of the royals are old enough to have actually had an empire under them. QEII for example, was still a princess before the loss of India. > Would she not have been taught that she was in her position due to her racial superiority ? > Have they really moved on ? Hope so. For the English, it seems to have been less racial superiority than national superiority. The British royal family is heavily German, there isn’t even a lot of anything other than German and French there - go back ages to get Spanish or French. Prince Philip is a member of Greek and Danish royal families - both of them are heavily German. Also, the definition of royal is pretty slim in the UK. Here is a wiki list. You pretty much need to be a direct male line descendent of George V to make the cut on a list today. [British royal family - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Royal_Family). So lets say that in 1740 you marry off Princess Caroline to a maharaja. (She died unwed and childless). Her children would not be British royals. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/65 "2013-07-20T17:08:33Z")
Until fairly recently they could barely marry anyone. George III put the [Royal Marriages Act of 1772](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Marriages_Act_1772) into place. Royals were not allowed to marry all different kinds of people without the monarch’s express permission. So they mostly married fellow German protestants from certain families and that was it. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mum was one of the few people allowed to marry into the royal family in 1922. She was an Earl’s daughter and from an ancient UK family but she was still seen as a commoner by the royals. Part of the reason she was probably allowed to marry the future king is because everyone expected his older brother to take the throne. No one expected the brother to abdicate to marry Wallis Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/66 "2013-07-20T17:27:28Z")
A Maori New Zealander married into the extended royal family: > **[Lady Davina Lewis Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/lady-davina-lewis)** > > Browse Getty Images' premium collection of high-quality, authentic Lady Davina Lewis stock photos, royalty-free images and pictures. Lady Davina Lewis stock photos are available in a variety of sizes and formats to fit your needs. > **[Lady Davina Windsor and Gary Lewis: 31 July 2004 - The Royal Forums](https://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f31/lady-davina-windsor-and-gary-lewis-31-july-2004-a-3106.html)** > > The wedding of the 26-year-old bride (who is 20th in line to the British throne) and the 33-year-old Maori renovator (who is a former sheep shearer from Gisbourne, New Zealand) took place at ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/67 "2013-07-20T23:05:25Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Until fairly recently they could barely marry anyone. George III put the [Royal Marriages Act of 1772](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Marriages_Act_1772) into place. Royals were not allowed to marry all different kinds of people without the monarch’s express permission. So they mostly married fellow German protestants from certain families and that was it. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mum was one of the few people allowed to marry into the royal family in 1922. She was an Earl’s daughter and from an ancient UK family but she was still seen as a commoner by the royals. Part of the reason she was probably allowed to marry the future king is because everyone expected his older brother to take the throne. No one expected the brother to abdicate to marry Wallis Simpson. I suspect World War One might also have had something to do with non-German protestants suddenly becoming acceptable :). I also suspect the whole CofE thing is one of those archaic but still on the books laws, that would be rapidly be repealed if it ever became an issue with a future wedding. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/68 "2013-07-21T02:31:08Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Both of our countries were “primitive and backwards” in many aspects and we shouldn’t be shy of admitting it. The most important thing to me is how far and how fast we all progress (and that progress is being made at all). I hear some of the political debates coming out of the USA and have to scratch my head at how barmy some of these discussions are and remind myself that it really isn’t a single country at all and re-calibrate my expectations accordingly. New England is not New Mexico and all that. No, it is a single country, but also a really big one. I daresay the regional diversity between New Mexico and Massachusetts is no greater than that between Cornwall and Yorkshire. Not geographically or climatically, but culturally. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/69 "2013-07-21T02:44:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But only European royalty. Because only fellow Euros were Christians, of course; no political/dynastic advantage to be gained by putting your princess-daughter in the Sultan’s harem. Just a note on your specific example here - a few early Ottoman sultans up through at least Murad II did in fact marry Byzantine, Serbian and Bulgarian princesses, so not so clear-cut I’m afraid. All of these were European powers in either serious decline or effective vassalage of course, so the reasons for the marriages were fairly obvious - currying favor with the local dominant power. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/70 "2013-07-21T12:22:47Z")
> [@](#): > > No, it is a single country, but also a really big one. I daresay the regional diversity between New Mexico and Massachusetts is no greater than that between Cornwall and Yorkshire. Not geographically or climatically, but culturally. I’ve lived in Cornwall and Yorkshire for years and there isn’t a great difference. They all have the same laws- they aren’t different states. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935/71 "2013-07-21T14:17:01Z")
And a few women of the peerage married Arab men - Jane Digby being the most famous. They aren’t royals though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-black-or-asian-uk-royals/663935.md?page=3)