by Enrica Roddolo
An anticolonial protest forces William and Kate to change their plans for Belize’s Jubilee Tour over ‘sensitive issues’. Harry speaks to volunteers from Diana’s charity who are clearing the warzone in Ukraine
Change of plans for the first leg of the journey to the Commonwealth countries of the Dukes of Cambridge, William and Kate. A change for “sensitive issues” related to the Indian Creek community, which the Queen’s nephew should have visited on day one of the Commonwealth Tour season with the other royals on the front lines. A tour that starts this weekend with the Cancel culture’s double sword of Damocles, increasingly also across the English Channel or the removal of the symbols of colonialism, of which the old British Empire is also an example. And the departure just four months ago of Barbados of the Queen as its Sovereign, to replace her with a President of the Republic. Historic handover attended by Prince Charles last November.
Not only that, but the war winds in Europe present an unexpected variable for the tour, which, like every jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, has been the year of celebrations. So much so that Kensington Palace itself, the office of the Dukes of Cambridge, has announced that “the couple are following the geopolitical situation by monitoring the global situation on a daytoday basis.” In short, this weekend’s change of plan (triggered by the idea of landing the Dukes’ helicopter on a soccer field, an area the subject of a longstanding dispute with indigenous peoples), and possibly not the only one, from current events. William and Kate have in recent days condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and visited the Holland Park Ukraine Center in London.
Prince Harry, who first wrote on social media that he sided with Ukraine, met (via Zoom) the volunteers at the Halo Trust, the charity supported by his mother Diana, which has been waging a real fight against antipersonnel mines. Diana’s volunteers are now on duty in Ukraine. As for the tour in the Commonwealth countries, as for the Cambridge ‘Smile Offensive’, or whether you prefer the gentle power of the new royals to the prospect of a loosening of Commonwealth countries’ ties with London and its Queen, The household is well aware that there could be other defectors in the long run, but “the royal family is pragmatic explains Dickie Arbiter, former secretary for relations with Queen Press from the late 80s to 2000 knows that this will not be possible Consider these countries as part of the empire forever » According to the London Times, one of the tour’s protesters in Belize pointed to the “sorrows of colonialism that we still face today”.
With this in mind, the first part of the Royal Tour of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth begins this weekend, entrusted to a series of frontline exponents: Kate and William in Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas; then it’s up to Carlo and Camilla. William and Kate should be home in 8 days time for Mother’s Day. A mother of three, there has long been speculation as to whether or not she could have a fourth child (given difficult pregnancies). And not to mention that the Royal Engagement agenda is now getting denser.
For Carolyne Cooper, who teaches at the University of the West Indies, it is “unlikely that the couple’s visit to the Caribbean will prevent Jamaica’s transition to the republican formula because there is a base of public opinion against the monarchy”. Although the Eve photos, taken in Belize, which has been independent since 1981, show murals of the 2011 royal wedding and Union Jack flags to welcome the royal visit.
March 19, 2022 (change March 19, 2022 | 15:03)
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