Ngozi Fulani's charity Sistah Space halts work over safety concerns in wake of Palace racism row

Domestic violence charity Sistah Space has paused its work temporarily over safety concerns after its founder, Ngozi Fulani, was repeatedly asked where she "really" came from at Buckingham Palace last month.

Lady Susan Hussey, the late Queen’s longest-serving lady-in-waiting and Prince William’s godmother, was accused of "interrogating" Ms Fulani.

During the event, Ms Fulani said Lady Hussey asked her "what part of Africa" she was from, moved her hair to see her name badge and persistently asked questions regarding her heritage.

Lady Hussey later apologised and resigned for the remarks. Following the incident, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said they took the incident "extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full details".

Ms Fulani said she faced online abuse after highlighting the encounter. The charity issued a statement on social media on Friday night describing how "recent events" had forced them to pause their operations.

"Unfortunately, recent events meant that we were forced to temporarily cease many of our operations to ensure the safety of our service users and our team," the post on Instagram said.

Sistah Space was set up to support survivors of domestic abuse of  African and Caribbean heritage. It advocates for women and runs a volunteer support service and food bank, as well as a charity shop and said it would be restoring its operations "as soon as safely possible".

Following the incident with Lady Hussey, Ms Fulani said she felt excuses relating to Lady Hussey’s age - she is 83 years old - were ageist.

"I've heard so many suggestions it's about her age and stuff like that and I think that's a kind of a disrespect about ageism," she said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Are we saying that because of your age you can't be racist or you can't be inappropriate?

"If you invite people to an event, as I said, against domestic abuse, and there are people there from different demographics, I don't see the relevance of whether I'm British or not British. You're trying to make me unwelcome in my own space."