‘Defenceless’ Hussey is a victim of ‘remorseless blame culture’

LADY SUSAN HUSSEY, the late Queen’s longest-serving lady-in-waiting who resigned over accusations of racism, is the victim of “remorseless, cruel, blame culture” in which she was forced to step aside over “fear of the mob”, one of her close friends has said.

William Shawcross, a respected royal biographer and friend of Lady Hussey, said the accusations had been fuelled by “desensitised keyboard warriors” who “lash out with impunity at others who are defenceless”.

In a defence of the 83-year-old, who has served the Royal family for more than 60 years, he called her “painful departure” a “personal tragedy”.

Lady Hussey this week offered her resignation from the newly created role of Lady of the Household after being accused of “interrogating” a black British guest at a Buckingham Palace reception about where she was “really” from.

Ngozi Fulani, the 61-year-old director of charity Sistah Space, claimed Lady Hussey had moved her hair to see her name badge before asking persistent questions about “where in Africa” her family was originally from.

She said she had been “stunned to temporary silence”, calling the conversation a “form of abuse” that left her struggling to “stay in a space that [she was] violated in”.

After the account of the conversation was made public on Twitter, a spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: “We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full details.

“In this instance, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made.”

Lady Hussey is understood to have offered her resignation from the unpaid, honorary role, issuing “profound apologies” through a spokesman.

Yesterday, Ms Fulani spoke about the incident during a series of broadcast interviews including Radio 4’s Today programme, ITV’S Good Morning Britain, BBC News and GB News.

Despite the palace insisting it had “reached out” to her through their charity contact, she said: “No. I don’t know where this has come from, but I’m telling you categorically – we have not heard from the palace.”

“Although I didn’t experience physical violence, what I feel I experienced was a form of abuse,” Ms Fulani said.

Mr Shawcross, who wrote the official biography of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, called the outcome a “personal tragedy” for someone who had “devoted her entire life to the monarchy and the Royal family” through a “sense of duty and love of this country”.

“It’s a tragedy for our society also that after 60 years of devoted, unblemished public service an 83-year-old woman has to “step aside” distraught, because of one Tweet about an unhappy conversation at a charity reception,” he said.

“This is really fear of the mob.”