Prince William is being slammed online for praising Kate Middleton’s “Filipino nurses,” with social media users stating their ethnicity is irrelevant.
During one of his first public appearances since the Princess of Wales returned home from the hospital following abdominal surgery, the Prince of Wales honored a woman named Patricia Spruce with a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) on Wednesday.
“What an amazing experience, the castle was just breathtaking, everyone was so lovely too [sic] us as we were just in awe of everything,” Spruce wrote in a public LinkedIn post. “Prince William said that Katherine [sic] had two Filipino nurses looking after her and they were amazing and kind.”
Royal watchers were quick to put William, 41, on blast for involving the nurses’ ethnic background. “Like what does their race have anything to do with it??” tweeted one reader.
“It is very important to know Kate’s nurses were Filipino. Why? Hell if I know, ask Will,” wrote another. “He made their race a focal point in a room full of White people.
“It’s very telling who was included in the Archie’s complexion debacle,” the second X user continued, referencing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s claims that royal family members had questioned their son’s skin color.
“William said Kate had two Filipino nurses. Why was it important to say they were Filipino nurses as opposed to just nurses?” questioned a third.
The future monarch also had his defenders, with some praising him for specifying the nurses’ ethnicity. “I love how Filipino nurses and medical workers have always been known to be amazing worldwide,” tweeted a Filipino citizen. “I hope though that they need not go abroad to earn an amount they deserve. They are extremely underpaid here.”