MONARCHY HIT BY FRESH TOUR CRISIS
A ROYAL charm offensive to celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign in four Caribbean countries has run into trouble before it starts today.
As the monarch celebrated her 96th birthday, Buckingham Palace was yesterday forced to announce the Earl and Countess of Wessex have pulled out of visiting one of their destinations, Grenada.
It followed complaints that Prince Edward and wife Sophie were only going to spare the country a few hours of their time.
And it comes after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge faced criticism about the monarchy during their Caribbean tour last month.
Sources said Grenada’s Government asked for the Wessexes’ visit to be called off after officials complained they would be spending just eight hours there during their week-long tour of the Caribbean.
One said: “There were concerns it was going to be very expensive
for taxpayers in Grenada and they were only coming for eight hours.”
Others said it was felt the couple’s tour would fail to achieve its twin objectives – to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and to showcase the islands visited.
Buckingham Palace said: “In consultation with the government of Grenada and on the advice of the Governor General, The Earl
and Countess of Wessex’s visit to Grenada has been postponed. The Earl and Countess hope to visit at a later date.”
Edward, 58, and Sophie, 57, have specialised in forging ties with Caribbean nations over the years.
Their tour, starting in Saint Lucia today, will now only take them to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda. The root of the problem in Grenada is the couple’s plan to use Saint Lucia as a base and travel to the other island nations on day trips. Their plans had already been revised after the Cambridge’s tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas ran into trouble. Prince William and Kate faced controversies over the monarchy, calls for reparations and apologies for slavery and accusations that the royals represented a bygone era of colonialism.
The problems they faced are set to change future royal tours. And Palace officials had tried to remove engagements from the Wessexes’ tour that risked provoking similar controversy. But Edward and Sophie are prepared for some awkward situations. When the couple visit Antigua, campaigners calling for Britain and the Royals to pay slave trade reparations plan to present a letter demanding compensation. Dor
brene O’Marde, of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission, said there had been an “absence of an apology from the Crown...for their role in the enslavement of African people”.
Meanwhile Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has called for his country – and the other seven Caribbean nations where the Queen is head of state – to replace the monarchy with elected homeborn presidents.
When the Cambridges visited Jamaica, Mr Browne said the country was right to signal its intention to replace the monarchy.
He also told Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner that cutting ties with the Queen was an aspiration of all independent Caribbean countries.
He said: “We have individuals who can serve as presidents of our respective countries and I believe that each country within the Commonwealth Caribbean all aspire to become a republic.”
In Grenada, the main opposition party wants to end the monarchy.
But the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in a referendum and it is doubtful there is sufficient support. Previous votes in 2016 and 2018 – aimed at ending Grenada’s colonial justice system and making Grenadians swear an oath of allegiance to their country instead of the Queen – both failed.
But there have been controversies. The Queen’s representative, Governor General Dame Cecile La Grenade, has faced criticism for wearing the insignia of her office.
Some consider it racist because it depicts a white St George trampling on the neck of a black Satan.
The Wessexes will hopefully feel more welcome in St Vincent and the Grenadines, where PM Ralph Gonsalves lost a 2009 referendum to replace the monarchy.
Buckingham Palace said the Wessexes will celebrate the culture, future and vibrancy of the island nations.
In Antigua, they will meet the national rowing team.
And in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Edward will meet athletes training for the next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.