French magazine Charlie Hebdo caused social outrage on Saturday over its cover story of Queen Elizabeth II kneeling on the neck of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
A caption on the drawing translates to “Why Meghan left Buckingham.” A quote bubble near Meghan’s head reads: ‘because I could not breathe anymore. ‘
In the photo, which is shared on the magazine’s Twitter account, a threatening Queen Elizabeth II pinches Meghan with her knee. The image is a cartoon of the death of George Floyd when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during a May 25 arrest.
Derek Chauvin has been fired from the Minneapolis police station and will soon face charges of murder and manslaughter. Three other former officers involved in the arrest are expected to be tried in August.
Social media users have slammed Charlie Hebdo over the drawing, and some call it racist.
“Words can not just describe how disgusting I found Charlie Hebdo. It is not satire to strike up and constantly draw racist caricatures. It is called a nd —,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Charlie Hebdo is a disgusting newspaper that promotes racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and sexism. For years, it has mocked many social issues that exist in the world while earning millions of dollars,” another reported.
One user said the front page was ‘absolutely disgusting’.
A few people, however, apparently defended the publication. One person wrote that the magazine described itself as a satire publication and was known for its offensive covers.
“Anyone with a brain knows that ALL @ Charlie_Hebdo_ covers are * intentionally * challenging. That’s their raison d’être. It’s called satire,” the tweet read.
Charlie Hebdo did not respond publicly to the criticism and did not immediately return a request for comment on Saturday.
The drawing comes almost a week after Prince Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an explosive interview in which they set out why they left the royal life.
Among the issues, Meghan said, royal insiders have expressed ‘concern’ about how dark the couple’s children may be. Meghan and Prince Harry welcomed their first child together, Archie, in May 2019 and they are expecting their second baby this summer.
The couple did not want to name the person who made the alleged comments, but Winfrey later said Harry made it clear that it was not Queen Elizabeth II, his grandmother, or her husband, Prince Philip.
Prince William denied the allegations against the royal family, saying “We are not a racist family.”
