British attorney Joanna Toch has been suspended after she suggested Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should name their newborn baby “Doprah.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor on June 4. She has been named after the Queen, whose nickname is Lilibet.
Toch, who is a top lawyer and founder at the Family Law Café, took to Twitter to respond to columnist Julie Burchill’s suggestion that the couple call their daughter “Georgina Floydina.” The name seemingly made reference to George Floyd, who was killed last year whilst in police custody.
Appearing to refer to the Duchess of Sussex’s mother Doria Ragland, Toch responded: “No Doria? Don’t black names matter?”
“I was hoping for Doria Oprah, the racist rotters,” Burchill then remarked.
The comment made reference to Oprah Winfrey, the host of the couple’s explosive interview earlier this year, which saw them accuse the royal family of racial bias.
Toch then finally chimed in with a combined proposal of their suggestions, as she wrote, “Doprah?”
The comments resulted in Family Law Café, where Toch worked at the time, releasing a statement announcing her suspension.
A statement, from the board of directors, read: “Family Law Cafe Limited (“FLC”) has suspended Joanna Toch with immediate effect pending an internal review into her recent comments on Twitter.”
“FLC considers her comments as offensive, unacceptable and highly contradictory to the inclusive manner in which FLC has always and will continue to work with members of all communities in managing the challenges of matrimonial and family disputes.”
Burchill, who also suggested the baby’s first words might be “Free Palestine,” claimed on Facebook that she had been fired from U.K. newspaper The Daily Telegraph, just two days after her remarks.
A source at The Daily Telegraph told Newsweek Burchill was a contributor to the publication, not staff or a freelancer.
However, they added that it “would be wrong to infer we won’t use her as a contributor again.”
Burchill’s Twitter has not disappeared from the platform but instead houses a tweet about her plan to leave because “it’s become impossible to poke fun even at monstrously over-privileged people without being called Hitler.”
Elsewhere, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor’s name made headlines after the BBC cited a palace source claiming Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “never asked” the Queen’s permission to use her nickname.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have since called in lawyers over the story.
Their team at Schillings distributed letters to the British press which warned them the allegations are defamatory and “should not be repeated.”