KCL Associate Director Apologises Following Prince Philip Email

Joleen Clarke, Associate Director for Business and Systems Support at King’s College London (KCL), issued an apology to staff via email on May 30 for a message containing a photo of Prince Philip in the aftermath of his death.

The original message featured a photograph of the Prince opening Maughan Library to students alongside the Queen in 2002. The photo was captioned: “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.”

King’s Anti-Racism Community of Practice reportedly filed several complaints with the university thereafter. Among those alleged to have been part of the complaints process is Vanessa Farrier, Head of Education and Curriculum Liaison at KCL.

In her follow-up email to staff, Clarke stated: “The picture was included as a historical reference point following his death. The inclusion of his picture was not intended to commemorate him.

“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.”

Reactions to both the apology and the university’s initial reactions to Prince Philip’s death have been mixed. Responding to the former, King’s student Emily Hewertson tweeted: “My uni is pathetic. […] One or two complaints from, clearly, very sensitive, folk ‘forced’ my uni to apologise… all for showing respect to a public servant. Grim.” MP James Cleverly also chimed in on Twitter, saying: “This is just getting silly now.”

My uni is pathetic.

King’s College London forced to apologise after staff outrage over Prince Philip email | Evening Standard https://t.co/5U3q5p7RYy

— Emily Hewertson (@emilyhewertson) May 30, 2021

In response to a separate statement made by the university directly following Prince Philip’s passing, an anonymous King’s staff member told Roar: “This was a disproportionate response to a sad but non-tragic death […] ‘As a King’s community, we mourn the loss of Prince Philip’ – Who is this statement supposed to represent? Not in my name.”

The Duke of Edinburgh faced multiple allegations of racism and sexism throughout his life based on comments made to members of the public and during official activities.

KCL administration released an additional “Official University Tribute” to Prince Philip on May 29, the day before this apology was sent to staff. The university stated: “Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had a long and valued association with King’s, dating back to 1955 when he became a Life Governor of King’s College London. We valued immensely, and remain very proud, of his friendship and support for King’s.”