Sunny Hostin on Queen Elizabeth II’s Death: ‘We Can Mourn the Queen and Not the Empire’

“If you really think about what the monarchy was built on, it was built on the backs of Black and brown people,” Sunny Hostin said on The View Friday

Sunny Hostin is sharing her feelings following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and Her Majesty’s connection to British colonialism.

During Friday’s installment of The View, co-host Hostin, 53, spoke on the history of the monarchy one day after the Queen’s death at age 96.

“We can mourn the queen and not the empire,” said Hostin, who noted that she lived in London “for a while” as a student. “Because if you really think about what the monarchy was built on, it was built on the backs of Black and brown people.”

She added that Queen Elizabeth “wore a crown of pillaged stones from India and Africa. And now what you’re seeing, at least in the Black communities that I’m a part of, they want reparations.”

Hostin pointed out that Barbados parted ways with the Queen last year when it became a republic and that Jamaica is likely to follow suit.

“It’s time for [King Charles III] to modernize this monarchy,” Hostin said. “It’s time for him to provide reparations to all of those colonies. A monarchy — it’s very easy to uplift one family — the harder thing is to uplift all families. I think that he’s in a position to be able to do that.”

Co-host Joy Behar then mentioned that, during her reign, Queen Elizabeth condemned apartheid in South Africa.

Apartheid — which began in 1948 after the election of the National Party — was “a system of legislation that upheld segregationist policies against non-white citizens of South Africa,” according to History.com.

Hostin responded, “That was one of the good things she did.”

“She also was very angry when [former Prime Minister of the U.K. Margaret] Thatcher refused to do sanctions against South Africa,” Behar continued. “So she tried her best that she could. She really didn’t have that much power. She was a figurehead.”

Co-host Ana Navarro chimed in and said institutions like the United States and the Catholic Church were “built on the backs of Black and brown people.”

Hostin added, “And we want our reparations,” later stating that King Charles should “bring his family back together after the allegations of racism that have been made by Duchess Meghan Markle and her husband, his son Prince Harry.”

Along with Hostin, political analyst Richard Stengel — who served as under secretary of state in the Obama administration — questioned during a segment on MSNBC Thursday why U.S. press coverage was mostly ignoring Her Majesty’s ties to colonialism.

During her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth served as head of state to 32 countries. South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961.

“You played a clip of her speaking in Cape Town in 1947, in South Africa. That’s the year apartheid took effect in South Africa. That was something British colonialism ushered in,” Stengel explained in part. “British colonialism, which she presided over, had a terrible effect on much of the world.”

Richard @Stengel on Queen Elizabeth II's role in the UK's legacy of colonialism & racism:

"You played a clip of her speaking in Cape Town in 1947… That's the year apartheid took effect… British colonialism, which she presided over… had a terrible effect on much of the world." pic.twitter.com/RtxgBxTRyi

— The Recount (@therecount) September 8, 2022

Queen Elizabeth died Thursday afternoon at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Around the world, including in the other nations that called her the head of state or Sovereign, her death was grieved by those to whom she was an unwavering fixture amid the turmoil of ever-changing times.

But the loss was most profound for her large family, including her four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.