In the summer of 2021, images resurfaced of nineteen-year-old Ellie Kemper being crowned the queen of the Veiled Prophet Ball in 1999. The actress was forced to account for her royal heritage on Instagram. Of the Veiled Prophet Society, Kemper wrote, “The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past.”

In 2022, just a few days after entering the race for Missouri’s open Senate seat, Trudy Busch Valentine apologized for her queenship in 1977. “I should have known better,” the sixty-four-year-old candidate wrote in a press release, “and I deeply regret and I apologize that my actions hurt others.” Busch Valentine pledged “to work tirelessly to be a force for progress in healing the racial divisions of our country.” It was later reported by Ben Kesslen that the farm featured in Busch Valentine’s campaign video was formerly a plantation called White Haven. According to Amanda Clark, community tours manager for the Missouri Historical Society, “records show between 30 and 90 enslaved people living on White Haven depending on the decade.”

When asked how she differed from the rest of the Democratic Party, Busch Valentine said, “I think defunding the police is totally wrong, because we need to be funding the police with the money and training they need to keep all of us safe.”