King’s College London (KCL) has reportedly apologised to staff for the “harm” caused by a bulletin which included an image of the late Queen’s consort Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, citing his alleged “history of racist and sexist comments”.
KCL, or King’s, was founded in 1829 by King George VI and the Duke of Wellington, of Battle of Waterloo fame, as Britain was approaching the height of its imperial power, but it has in the 21st century has fallen into the modish “wokery” of the day.
Staff were incensed by a bulletin featuring an image of the Duke, a Second World War veteran born in the then-Kingdom of Greece in 1921, before political correctness was ever heard of, with the following message: “As the nation marks the death of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, we thought you might like to see this photo of the Duke at the official opening of the Maughan Library in 2002, which some colleagues will remember.”
According to the Telegraph, the associate director at the King’s College libraries who sent the bulletin, Joleen Clarke, was subject to a “kangaroo court” by members of the university’s Anti-Racism Community of Practice, resulting in a follow-up email containing a grovelling apology and something like a denouncement of the late royal.
“The picture was included as a historical reference point following his [the Duke’s] death. The inclusion of the picture was not intended to commemorate him,” it insisted.
“Through feedback and subsequent conversations, we have come to realise the harm that this caused members of our community, because of his history of racist and sexist comments. We are sorry to have caused this harm.”
While the apology may have pleased staffers who disliked the Duke, it does not appear to have gone down well with politicians from Britain’s governing Conservative Party, which is currently trying to give the appearance of staunch opposition to censorship and left-wing bias on university campuses.
“King’s College London is at the extreme end of the spectrum when it comes to inhibiting free speech,” accused Sir John Hayes, who leads the socially conservative Common Sense Group of Tory MPs.
“We need to flush out people in our universities who are determined with an almost Maoist zeal to close minds in places which ought to be bastions of free and open debate,” he added.
Perhaps attempting to have it both ways, a King’s spokesman quoted by the Telegraph said that “Prince Philip had a long association with King’s which continued right up until his retirement from public life. We valued immensely, and remain very proud, of his friendship and support for King’s.”