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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Duke & Duchess Of Cambridge tour … is it just me?

334 replies

PodgePie · 23/03/2022 21:25

I am a huge royalist (obviously not Andrew but definitely William and Kate). However, I am struggling with their current tour, in a time of war, of crippling price rises and also Covid, it seems tasteless to be parading around in the sunshine in a stream of hugely expensive outfits, each one more luxurious than the next. I understand why international tours take place - and agree they have an important role - but shouldn’t this have been postponed given the climate?

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TheKeatingFive · 23/03/2022 22:44

So, perhaps it's nice to see something else on the news and be able to admire (or not) the clothes, jewellery and pretty hair

See, there's tonnes of that shit on Instagram nowadays. No need to drop the hundreds of millions we spend on the royals so that Kate can delight us with a pretty frock.

IcedPurple · 23/03/2022 22:45

And you don’t think that the many charities & foundations supporting Ukraine can be classed as a campaign? What does constitute a campaign then?

You tell me. You used the expression.

Are you saying that most British people have roots in Africa?

I would have thought it was fairly obvious I was talking about people in the Caribbean.

Yes. I am writing from the UK, on a UK hosted platform so when I say ‘most’ I refer to the UK readership. Not host nations. It didn’t look like the Jamaicans were terribly happy to host so I would imagine they’d have been delighted if Ukraine had diverted The Duke & Duchess from attending.

There seems to have been a mixed reception to the visit. There were protests, and there were also crowds of people waiting to see them, as was no doubt expected.

However, cancelling a visit which will have been planned at a very high level for months or even years would have been very awkward diplomatically. As has been said repeatedly, wars have been pretty much a constant throughout the queen's reign, even if Sky News wasn't providing live updates or half of Twitter didn't add the country's flag to their profile. Nobody was demanding that royal tours or other soft diplomacy be suspended indefinitely, or that the money saved be donated to a 'campaign'.

However, your post misses the point that rising fuel & food costs make this seem all the more extravagant

I don't actually disagree with that. I think the tour is a bit cringey and seems like a relic from another age. However, it's a Jubilee year and these countries are for the time being at least, Commonwealth realms. So they couldn't really be left out. Going forward, more Commonwealth countries are likely to become republics and I doubt we'll see too many tours of this nature in the future.

Alwaystheplusone · 23/03/2022 22:46

This tour is quite stunning in that it really feels like the beginning of the end for the monarchy. I think that William and Kate can feel it too. The meeting with the Jamaican prime minister was an absolute toe-curler.

IcedPurple · 23/03/2022 22:48

[quote Scandisaurus22]@IcedPurple there really is no comparison in the way they are expected to behave. If our royalty were to behave any different to us, they simply would not be popular by anyone. A couple of years ago I stopped by a very local gas station, and there was our King topping up his car. Saw later they had a sausage roll at the same petrol station.[/quote]
If you're talking about the Swedish king, he's not a role model for anyone to follow. Complete sleaze bag.

And he lives in a palace, is guarded round the clock and has a life of extreme unearned luxury. He is certainly not like everyone else.

Blossomtoes · 23/03/2022 22:49

@Alwaystheplusone

This tour is quite stunning in that it really feels like the beginning of the end for the monarchy. I think that William and Kate can feel it too. The meeting with the Jamaican prime minister was an absolute toe-curler.
You and all the other republicans wish.
Manekinek0 · 23/03/2022 22:50

I don't know anyone, in real life, who cares or pays attention to any of this. Get rid of the lot of them.

GreenLunchBox · 23/03/2022 22:50

The optics aren't great Confused

Duke & Duchess Of Cambridge tour … is it just me?
PodgePie · 23/03/2022 22:51

@IcedPurple

And you don’t think that the many charities & foundations supporting Ukraine can be classed as a campaign? What does constitute a campaign then?

You tell me. You used the expression.

Are you saying that most British people have roots in Africa?

I would have thought it was fairly obvious I was talking about people in the Caribbean.

Yes. I am writing from the UK, on a UK hosted platform so when I say ‘most’ I refer to the UK readership. Not host nations. It didn’t look like the Jamaicans were terribly happy to host so I would imagine they’d have been delighted if Ukraine had diverted The Duke & Duchess from attending.

There seems to have been a mixed reception to the visit. There were protests, and there were also crowds of people waiting to see them, as was no doubt expected.

However, cancelling a visit which will have been planned at a very high level for months or even years would have been very awkward diplomatically. As has been said repeatedly, wars have been pretty much a constant throughout the queen's reign, even if Sky News wasn't providing live updates or half of Twitter didn't add the country's flag to their profile. Nobody was demanding that royal tours or other soft diplomacy be suspended indefinitely, or that the money saved be donated to a 'campaign'.

However, your post misses the point that rising fuel & food costs make this seem all the more extravagant

I don't actually disagree with that. I think the tour is a bit cringey and seems like a relic from another age. However, it's a Jubilee year and these countries are for the time being at least, Commonwealth realms. So they couldn't really be left out. Going forward, more Commonwealth countries are likely to become republics and I doubt we'll see too many tours of this nature in the future.

No, it wasn’t obvious at all (to me). I don’t have an insight into the lives of people in the Caribbean - but what I do understand is that this trip is poorly timed. Had she worn a bunch of LK Bennett or even Zara then it wouldn’t be so irksome. But the fact she’s parading around in YSL when people are having to make decisions between fuel & food doesn’t seem right.
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FiddlefigOnTheRoof · 23/03/2022 22:51

The tour is fine, the PR is dreadful. Some nice outfits for formal events is all well and good. But they should have balanced that with practical stuff to meet every day people.

TheKeatingFive · 23/03/2022 22:51

The optics aren't great

Wtaf? Confused

Blossomtoes · 23/03/2022 22:52

She’s not “parading”.

Cherryblossoms85 · 23/03/2022 22:52

I'm not the royals biggest fan but I've quite enjoyed it. Sort of a guilty pleasure looking at the dresses.

londonrach · 23/03/2022 22:53

That picture of Kate with the fence....awful. tbh since covid started two years ago the royal family doesn't seem important or needed anymore. Covid has changed us.

IcedPurple · 23/03/2022 22:54

But the fact she’s parading around in YSL when people are having to make decisions between fuel & food doesn’t seem right.

"Parading around" in a YSL jacket she bought when she was a student?

Mocara · 23/03/2022 22:54

@GirlsTalk250

Utterly cringing at the people saying the royal visit is irrelevant!

Our Queen is every bit as much the monarch of Belize and Jamaica and their Head of State, as she is of Britain. Obviously the Queen can no longer visit herself, so she has sent her representatives.

🤣🤣🤣🤣
Quitelikeit · 23/03/2022 22:58

Love the royals

They’re always damned by someone, somewhere for something!

You can’t please everyone one all of the time

PodgePie · 23/03/2022 22:58

@IcedPurple

But the fact she’s parading around in YSL when people are having to make decisions between fuel & food doesn’t seem right.

"Parading around" in a YSL jacket she bought when she was a student?

Wow - she had a better student lifestyle than I did! I admit I made a mistake here … it was a £2k Alexander McQueen suit she wore today. Does that make it better?
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HollowedOut · 23/03/2022 22:58

I think it’s brilliant. It’s finally showing the royal family up for the bunch of lazy slingers they are. Will and Kate having to sit there while being ignored and trying to keep a completely blank expression while the PM talked about moving on was fucking hilarious 😂

PodgePie · 23/03/2022 22:59

@Blossomtoes

She’s not “parading”.
What would you call this? They are both on ‘show’, which you might call a parade …
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HollowedOut · 23/03/2022 23:01

@Blossomtoes if she’s not parading, what is she doing? She’s not allowed to do anything other than smile, nod and make utterly bland comments while being photographed. She and the rest of the royal family could be replaced by wax works with a few stock phrases that are played on repeat and it would have the same effect.

LibrariesGiveUsPower · 23/03/2022 23:02

We, the U.K. are not at war.

It does seem outdated though.

DaphneduM · 23/03/2022 23:02

I'm glad to see others have brought up the picture of the chain link fence - I saw it earlier and couldn't believe it. It's like something from the apartheid era of South Africa - absolutely dreadful.

Weirdly I think it's the beginning of the end too. I know people on here don't seem to have much time for Meghan and Harry - but I disagree. They were the last chance for the royal family to be relevant in the 21st century.

Billionneeded · 23/03/2022 23:03

Saw later they had a sausage roll at the same petrol station.

Sausage roll?? Good grief, I don't want to see our Royals chowing down a sausage roll at a fuel station, whatever next....

Blossomtoes · 23/03/2022 23:04

She’s not allowed to do anything other than smile, nod and make utterly bland comments while being photographed

Exactly. She’s doing exactly what she’s supposed to. And we all know that parading, like swanning and other similar verbs, is only used to be derogatory.

cakeorwine · 23/03/2022 23:06

@Quitelikeit

Love the royals

They’re always damned by someone, somewhere for something!

You can’t please everyone one all of the time

I've always wondered why someone loves the Royals?

Is it the institution?
The Royals themselves?

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