The Buzz | Buckingham Palace barred minorities from office jobs in ‘60s

Buckingham Palace barred ethnic minorities from office jobs during the 1960s, the Guardian newspaper reported yesterday, citing documents in Britain’s National Archives.
The revelation, published on the newspaper’s front page, was based on papers showing that Queen Elizabeth II’s chief financial manager told civil servants in 1968 that it was not the palace’s practice to hire “coloured immigrants or foreigners” for clerical posts and other office jobs.
The palace replied forcefully to the historical allegations, stressing that the queen and her household comply “in principle and in practice” with anti-discrimination legislation.
“Claims based on a second-hand account of conversations from over 50 years ago should not be used to draw or infer conclusions about modern-day events or operations,” a palace spokesman said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.
The Guardian’s allegations stem from its investigation into the palace’s use of a mechanism known as “crown consent,” under which the monarch grants permission for Parliament to debate laws affecting her.