Black choir at Meghan and Harry’s wedding was invited by Charles

The black choir that performed at Meghan Markle’s wedding to Prince Harry was invited by Prince Charles, it has emerged – and the choir’s founder said she refuses to believe that he is racist.

Karen Gibson founded and conducts The Kingdom Choir, a London-based gospel group which performed at the May 2018 nuptials.

She told TMZ that it was Prince Charles who invited them to perform. The group sang Ben E. King’s soul classic Stand By Me, to widespread acclaim.

Gibson told the site that the 72-year-old had been gracious to them, and went out of his way to congratulate them on their subsequent success.

The royal family has been fighting off claims that they are racist, after Markle on Sunday night told Oprah Winfrey that someone within the family asked how ‘dark’ her son Archie’s skin would be.

Following the interview, Prince Harry told Winfrey that neither the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh had made the remark.

Frenzied speculation over who was the ‘royal racist’ has ensued.

But Gibson said she found it hard to believe that Harry’s father was to blame.

Buckingham Palace issued a statement on Tuesday on behalf of the Queen expressing the family’s sadness at learning the ‘full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan’.

The statement said the issues they raised, particularly that of race, were very ‘concerning’.

On Thursday Prince William became the first senior Windsor to address directly the string of allegations made by Harry and Meghan in their explosive interview.

He also confirmed the depth of the rift between him and his brother.

William admitted he had not even spoken to Harry about the TV show – four days after it aired.

Asked whether his family were racist, William replied: ”We’re very much not a racist family.’

His reaction laid bare his clear hurt over the claims made by his brother and sister-in-law.

The prince’s comments were praised by insiders, who said the 38-year-old did ‘very well given the emotion and enormity of it all’.

On Thursday night, royal insiders claimed that although William and Harry have not spoken in months, the elder brother is prepared to stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the Duke of Sussex at the unveiling of a statue of their late mother.

Sources told the Mirror ‘both camps are prepared to come together’ and put on a ‘united front’ when the tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales is installed at Kensington Palace on July 1.