Backlash to William and Kate’s Caribbean visit has sparked ‘rethink’ of royal tours, claims expert

Members of the Royal Family will do less tours overseas and focus on places where they feel they can make a real difference, a royal commentator has said.

The future of the monarchy and the Commonwealth has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s tour of the Caribbean. 

Their intense eight-day long tour around Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas saw the couple face backlash after encountering tensions in the Caribbean nations.

William’s trip with Kate had been plagued by public relations gaffes and protests about British colonialism, which led to the endeavour being branded ‘tone deaf’ to modern sensibilities. 

The scrutiny came to a head when Prince William released an unprecedented end-of-tour statement addressing growing republican sentiment in the three countries – acknowledging it had ‘brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future’.

In the wake of the criticism over the ‘colonial-era’ optics of their tour, many have called for an end to similar overseas trips by members of the royal family. 

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge is talking to locals on March 26, in Great Abaco, Bahamas 

Sunday Times Royal Editor Roya Nikkhah believes the tour ignited a rethink of how the royal family plans overseas visits in the future.

Speaking on the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, she said: ‘I think it definitely will [spark a rethink] and to be honest I think that rethink had started before this tour got underway because I know that William thought long and hard about how to approach certain things.

‘There have obviously been a few missteps. We had that extraordinary statement from him on Saturday night setting out the fact that he takes that on the chin and he wants to sort of look at things differently.’

Asked if she felt there would be fewer trips overseas in the future, she added: ‘I think that’s definitely right and that’s very much a legacy I suppose of the Queen who has been head of the commonwealth for so long and is the biggest, most travelled monarch of the modern age.

Pictured: Using the Land Rover was meant as a tribute to The Queen but was labelled a ‘throwback’ to a visit by the Queen but the photo was widely criticised for being ‘tone deaf’

Pictured: The Duchess of Cambridge waves at children during a visit to Trench Town

‘I think we will see fewer tours, to places where I think probably the younger royals feel they can have more impact and it’s not just a case of going there because they feel they have to.’

After their tour ended, Prince William issued a lengthy statement which addressed growing republican sentiment in Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas – acknowledging it had ‘brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future’.

The duke tacitly acknowledged the anti-royalist sentiment, in his extraordinary statement, saying that while he was ‘committed to service’, that involved ‘not telling people what to do’.

‘It is about serving and supporting them in whatever way they think best, by using the platform we are lucky to have,’ he added.

‘It is why tours such as this reaffirm our desire to serve the people of the Commonwealth and to listen to communities around the world.

‘Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what is on my mind.’

Barbados replaced the Queen as head of state in November during a ceremony witnessed by the Prince of Wales. Pictured: Charles during his visit to Barbados last November

Charles and Camilla during their most recent tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland this month

William is destined to be the king of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas when the time comes, but his statement, and a speech he gave on Friday, indicate the future monarch is aware the changing political and cultural landscape may bring this to an end.

Barbados replaced the Queen as head of state in November, and elected its first president during a ceremony witnessed by the Prince of Wales.

And a minister from Belize’s government told his parliament, a few days after the Cambridges left: ‘Perhaps it is time for Belize to take the next step in truly owning our independence.’

One walkabout led to heavily criticised pictures of the Duke and Duchess shaking hands with impoverished children through a fence in Trench Town, Jamaica.

Further criticism came when the couple inspected a military parade in an open-topped Land Rover which had been used by the Queen in 1953.

Royal insiders admitted the moment, designed as a homage to the Queen, had been poorly received. One said: ‘It was a throwback to a bygone era – and also impinged on the god-like status of the Queen.’

However, another senior royal insider indicated that William’s statement indicated the 39-year-old Prince was ‘coming of age’.

They told the Mail on Sunday: ‘William wanted to acknowledge that not everything on the tour landed the right way, but the couple are of the generation which learns from mistakes.

‘You have to look like you know it’s not all worked, acknowledge the world has changed and react, not double down.

‘He was showing that he understands that it can’t be taken for granted that he will lead the Commonwealth – you serve as long as the people want you to serve, you listen, accept their choices and change if you need to.

‘That’s how the Commonwealth survives in the end, by not forcing anything.’