Oprah Winfrey was a 'victim of racism' in Switzerland, Billionaire told she can't afford expensive handbag

US talk show host Oprah Winfrey says she was the victim of racism during a recent visit to Switzerland where she was attending Tina Turner's wedding last month.

Winfrey, one of the world's richest women, said an assistant refused to serve her in an upmarket handbag shop in Zurich saying one of the bags was "too expensive" for her.

"I was in Zurich the other day, in a store whose name I will not mention. I didn't have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and my little sandals. But obviously The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Zurich."

"I go into a store and I say to the woman, 'Excuse me, may I see the bag right above your head?' and she says to me, 'No, It's too expensive.'"

When Winfrey insisted she did want to see the bag the shop assistant allegedly replied: "No, no you don't want to see that one, you want to see this one because that one will cost too much. You will not be able to afford that."

Winfrey said she left the shop calmly without arguing, but that the experience was proof that racism continues to be a problem.

"There's two different ways to handle it," she said. "I could've had the whole blow-up thing... but it still exists, of course it does."

The bag on display was a $35,000 bag.