Darrell Kelley is a talented musical artist and producer whose hits include “The Coronavirus,” “Vote Him Out,” and “Because of You.”   He is also a man of intense principles, so when he listened to the Oprah interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, he was so disturbed by the allegations of racism in the Royal Family that he was compelled to write a new song, “Why Lie on the Queen,” to defend the unfair treatment of Queen Elizabeth.

“I was very upset when Meghan said that the Queen had concerns over how dark Archie’s skin might be,” Darrell says. “I did not think it was appropriate to say this, nor did I think it was true. People should not say things about other individuals without concrete evidence to back it up. It was basically gossip – there was no evidence that the Queen was racist. My feelings were so strong about this that I had to get them out in my music.”

Darrell says that he has watched the Royal Family for years and has always been deeply impressed by the Queen’s treatment of people of color. “One of the lines of the song is ‘My heart knows you’re not a racist,’” he says. “How could she be? Look at who she has invited to Windsor and Buckingham Palace: Michael Jackson. James Brown. The Obamas. She would never have had dinner with them if she were a racist.”

Darrell is in turn reflective and passionate as he discusses Queen Elizabeth and her treatment of African Americans. “Racists do not sit down with those people they are prejudiced against,” he states. “They won’t invite you to be a guest or talk to you. Queen Elizabeth is the opposite of this. She is the epitome of grace and beauty, and I just find it impossible to believe she would have said anything racist about Meghan and Harry’s baby. If there is proof of it, let me see it. I go by what I see, not by what people say.” 

Darrell’s song emphasizes that Meghan and Harry were spreading lies and providing no proof of their allegations. “I am always open to hearing things about people that I might not like,” Darrell says. “In this case, though, in order to believe that the Queen made such crass comments about Archie’s skin color, I need more than an alleged conversation. I need proof. Someone needs to show me the hard-core evidence that she said this, and then I will believe it.”

In the song, Darrell also questions why the couple chose to leave the UK for America. “They say that they left England in part because of the paparazzi, but as my song points out, people in America are just as nosy here as they are there,” Darrell says. “If they really wanted their privacy, getting on Oprah in front of millions of people was a strange way to achieve it.”

As much as Darrell respects the Royal Family and feels passionate about helping them overcome unfair treatment, he has a bigger goal for his new song. He wants to remind people to not automatically believe what they tell you even if they are very important role models. “Instead, you need to do your own due diligence and your own studies so that you can clearly see people and world leaders and have your own views on them. If you do, there will be less gossip, and you’ll be standing up as a good person who has excellent character. You’ll be a person of love, acceptance, unity, and love.” 

Darrell is thoughtful as he thinks about the song’s message. “It definitely gets out the idea that abuse should not be allowed, especially when there’s no proof of it. We have to stand up for each other. The world is so divided, and we keep attacking each other for no reason. We go to war every day, but we don’t know why.”

Ultimately, Darrell believes that Meghan and Prince Harry’s interview is indicative of a larger problem. “We are focused on the wrong thing. So many innocent people die every day. Why not put our energy into helping them? 500,000 people have died from COVID-19 in America and more worldwide. We need to stop focusing on rumors and instead use our abilities to help those who really need us. That’s really the message of my song: turn away from hate and rumors and towards peace and unity.”