Princess Michael of Kent has apologised after wearing a blackamoor brooch to the Queen’s Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace, attended by Prince Harry’s fiancee Meghan Markle, who is of mixed race by virtue of her white father and African American mother. 
 
 The royal, who is married to the Queen’s cousin, was photographed wearing the brooch depicting a black figure on her coat as she arrived for the annual gathering on Wednesday. She was later criticised online for wearing “racist jewellery”. 
 
 Markle is understood to have met Princess Michael of Kent at the lunch, but it is not known if she was wearing the brooch at the time. 
 
 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle release official engagement photos Read more 
 
 A spokesman for the princess said: “The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence.” 
 
 
 
 It is not the first time the princess has been accused of racism. In 2004, she reportedly instructed African American customers in a New York restaurant to “go back to the colonies” in an argument about noise. 
 
 The princess, whose father was an SS officer, denied the incident a few months later in an interview with ITV, saying: “I even pretended years ago to be an African, a half-caste African, but because of my light eyes I did not get away with it, but I dyed my hair black. 
 
 “I had this adventure with these absolutely adorable, special people and to call me racist: it’s a knife through the heart because I really love these people.” ||||| Party at Grandma’s — and everyone’s invited! 
 
 Meghan Markle took part in an annual royal tradition when she joined fiancé Prince Harry and her future in-laws Prince William and Kate Middleton for Queen Elizabeth’s annual pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. 
 
 They joined more than 50 royal family members for lunch at the palace — including Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Eugenie (who was one of the first to arrive), Princess Beatrice and Zara and Mike Tindall. 
 
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 William, Kate and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte arrived together. George wore a blue wool jacket from Amaia — the same one he wore for last year’s lunch — for the special occasion. The family’s nanny, Maria Turin Borrallo, sat with the children in the back seat. 
 
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 Harry, at the wheel of a Land Rover Discovery, drove Meghan from Kensington Palace. Their arrival came shortly after William and Kate’s. 
 
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 The littlest royals George and Charlotte will no doubt be the center of attention at the lunch. Dad William recently shared 4-year-old George’s wish list for Santa and he took part in his school’s Christmas nativity play — as a sheep! 
 
 Inside the palace, Meghan mingled with a daunting array of royals, as all of the Queen’s children were in attendance, along with most of her grandchildren. And while she has already met the Queen a few times, this is thought to be the first time Meghan has had a lunch with the entire family at the palace. 
 
 Meghan is meeting much of the extended royal family for the first time as well as being gradually introduced to other members of the household. Last week, the Queen took her and Harry to a private party for staffers at Windsor Castle. “It was a good opportunity for her to get to know the close part of the family as it were,” a family friend says. 
 
 Meghan is also set to join the royal family for festivities at the Queen’s Sandringham estate on Christmas Day, making her the first royal fiancée to spend Christmas with the royal family. 
 
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 “It’s incredible,” Meghan said during the couple’s engagement interview about meeting the Queen. “To be able to meet her through [Harry’s] lens, not just with his honor and respect for her as Monarch, but with the love he has for her as his grandmother. She’s an incredible woman.” 
 
 Meghan has won over all of Harry’s family members, especially Will and Kate. 
 
 Harry said: “William was longing to meet her and so was Catherine, so you know being our neighbors we managed to get that in a couple of – well quite a few times now and Catherine has been absolutely amazing, as has William as well, you know, fantastic support.” 
 
 Meghan herself added of Kate: “She’s been wonderful.” 
 
 In 2010, then royal-bride-to-be Kate joined William for the annual event that takes place before the Queen heads off for her seasonal holiday. Three years later, they brought their son, George, for his very first Christmas party with the royal family. 
 
 The party is an annual affair for the entire family, with dozens of people attending the lunch. A smaller gathering will be held on Christmas Day at the Queen’s country home in Norfolk, Sandringham House. ||||| With Meghan Markle set to take part in the Christmas festivities at Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham home on December 25, insiders detect a softening of the monarch and the royal ways. 
 
 At 91, the Queen has mellowed and is more realistic about the modern world, insiders and veteran royal watchers tell PEOPLE in this week’s issue. Which is why Meghan will break protocol to join her fiancé Prince Harry at the church service with the rest of the royal family on Christmas morning. 
 
 “It’s her age,” says Ingrid Seward, author of My Husband & I, a new biography of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. “She is easier-going. It’s refreshing that [the royal family] is prepared to bend a bit.” 
 
 And a friend of the family adds, “They are much more enlightened now.” 
 
 For more about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Christmas plans, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on Friday 
 
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 Back when Kate Middleton was engaged to Prince William in 2010, she did not join him for Christmas at Sandringham. 
 
 “Ms. Markle,” as the palace calls her, and Harry will stay at Anmer Hall, the 10-bedroom country home of William and Kate and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte. After church, she will head to the “big house” (as it’s known in royal circles) for lunch with the Queen and the rest of the family. 
 
 Meghan, who joined Harry for the Queen’s pre-holiday lunch at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, is already getting accustomed to the palace and its staff and family. She impressed guests as she was introduced to hundreds of courtiers and palace workers at another annual bash at Windsor Castle on December 11 — in some of the same state apartments where she and Harry will hold their wedding reception on May 19.
– The queen's Christmas luncheon had attracted more attention than usual—and then even more attention, this time of a negative flavor. The lunch entered the spotlight thanks to Meghan Markle's presence at Buckingham Palace among what People reports were about 50 royal family members. But the headlines then shifted to the sartorial choices of one of them: Princess Michael of Kent. She was pilloried for wearing "racist jewelry" after being photographed (see image here) wearing a blackamoor brooch to the luncheon. NBC News explains the two-inch brooch features "an antiquated depiction of a black figure that many contend exoticizes people of color." It notes Dolce and Gabbana dealt with similar accusations in 2012 after one of its models wore a pair of blackamoor earrings in a runway show. NBC News reports some considered it an insult to Markle, who is biracial. A rep for the princess, who is married to the queen's cousin, had this to say: "The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence." The Guardian points out it's not the princess' first rumble with accusations of racism: In 2004, she was said to have told black diners at a New York restaurant to "go back to the colonies" during a dispute about noise, and in an interview about the incident, she said that she once pretended to be "a half-caste African, but because of my light eyes I did not get away with it, but I dyed my hair black." People reports that Markle will buck tradition and attend church with the royals on Christmas.