Page 9 | Duke & Duchess Of Cambridge tour … is it just me?

PodgePie · 2022-03-23T21:25:59+00:00

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?

Puzzledandpissedoff · 24/03/2022 08:46

Better than them saying sorry commonwealth we don't actually care about you right now

Which begs the question of why Charles isn't there, especially after mummy had to ask the CW to give him the head job when she goes instead of leaving it up to them.
Granted he went to Barbados, but like Hong Kong only when HM "lost" it, which monarchists sometimes see as another failure

But then he seems a lot keener on visiting the Gulf to chivvy money and be feted around the "Club of Kings"

ajandjjmum · 24/03/2022 08:47

@SquirrelG

Struggling to understand just what a visit to a Commonwealth country has got to do with anyone in the UK? This tour, as others have said, would have been arranged a long time ago - it's not as though they just dropped in on a whim. What boring sad little lives you must lead if this is all you have to carp about. The RF cancelling a tour is going to mean stuff all to anyone struggling atm, nor is it going to make a war - any war - go away. I imagine the rest of you are continuing your lives as normal, so why should they (or anyone else for that matter) not do the same.

But it would give you an extra £1.24 a year towards your electricity bill!

TatianaBis · 24/03/2022 08:48

Surely it’s most insensitive to the Jamaicans who want the monarchy to fuck off and some acknowledgement of colonialism and slavery?

It’s rather tone deaf to be more concerned about Kate wearing YSL and its impact here.

GirlMum93 · 24/03/2022 08:50

I totally agree OP. They are completely off the radar to the rest of us.

TatianaBis · 24/03/2022 08:54

And to Jamaicans too.

WinnieTheW0rm · 24/03/2022 08:54

Prince Charles is currently on a tour of the island of Ireland. That is getting less press attention.

The overseas tours have to be shared between the two who are Counsellors of State, plus Anne and the Wessexes who are the other main working royals.

I suppose Charles could do all the tours of the countries where the Queen is head of state (that's not synonymous with the Commonwealth). It's quite likely he should go to all once he becomes king.

TheKeatingFive · 24/03/2022 08:56

I think Kate 'n Wills are seen as the best asset right now.

Which, given how this tour is panning out, doesn't bode well.

C8H10N4O2 · 24/03/2022 08:56

William wants to profess is "profound sorrow" about slavery?

How about handing back the massive wealth his family built on the bodies of slaves, instead of performance sorrow wearing a designer suit at a banquet before popping off to his next expensive holiday.

Words are cheap.

EdithWeston · 24/03/2022 08:57

@TatianaBis

Surely it’s most insensitive to the Jamaicans who want the monarchy to fuck off and some acknowledgement of colonialism and slavery?

It’s rather tone deaf to be more concerned about Kate wearing YSL and its impact here.

Williams speech on slavery has already been referenced earlier in the thread.

As has the Jamaicans lack of action in making a transition - they're saying pretty much what they said at the time of the Diamond Jubilee. If they really want to remove the monarch as Head of State, then they need to turn those words into deeds. Ipuntil they do, the Head of State will keep on being Head of State and things like Jubilee tours will happen.

TheKeatingFive · 24/03/2022 08:57

How about handing back the massive wealth his family built on the bodies of slaves

Well that would be the absolute last thing they'd do

ajandjjmum · 24/03/2022 09:00

@TheKeatingFive

Urgh. Can people stop with the "shock" at the photo. It was a football pitch!!! It wasn't a bunch of people shoved in a cage to keep them away from the rich pretty people!

Optics of things are important, particularly given the wider context of their visit.

The photo gave a terrible impression because it had some unfortunate visual cues. It should never have been released by the team.

But some think it would have been better for William, Kate and Raheem Sterling to have ignored the kids waiting to see them, so that the optics would be better?

TheKeatingFive · 24/03/2022 09:04

But some think it would have been better for William, Kate and Raheem Sterling to have ignored the kids waiting to see them, so that the optics would be better?

Don't release the shot to the press then, if it isn't appropriate. That doesn't mean the kids can't be met. Not everything needs to be done purely for the cameras.

ajandjjmum · 24/03/2022 09:07

There were cameras everywhere! William, Kate and their people cannot dictate who releases which shot. That would make them dictators, which clearly they are not.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 24/03/2022 09:11

I suppose Charles could do all the tours of the countries where the Queen is head of state (that's not synonymous with the Commonwealth). It's quite likely he should go to all once he becomes king

That's something else that interests me - whether he'll go, and if so what he'll do about his partner who notoriously hates flying

It's also said that he'll often refuse to fly commercial if he can avoid it, so the optics of W&K and a fence could well pale against him turning up in a private jet. It may not matter in the Gulf where most leaders have them anyway, but a different view could be taken in less wealthy nations

TheKeatingFive · 24/03/2022 09:12

There were cameras everywhere! William, Kate and their people cannot dictate who releases which shot.

They have a huge amount of control over which shots are released.

Or equally, organisers should have been able to foresee the very unfortunate situation that was going to be captured and rejigged the visit so they could met them anyone way.

What part of 'plebs held back by wire fencing isn't a good look' are you not getting here?

TatianaBis · 24/03/2022 09:18

@EdithWeston Ah and you think a bit of lip service covers it.

As has the Jamaicans lack of action in making a transition - they're saying pretty much what they said at the time of the Diamond Jubilee. If they really want to remove the monarch as Head of State, then they need to turn those words into deeds. Ipuntil they do, the Head of State will keep on being Head of State and things like Jubilee tours will happen.

Clearly you have no grasp of how pompous this sounds.

TatianaBis · 24/03/2022 09:23

There’s a fundamental difference between acknowledging slavery and apologising for it, particularly that the royal family as benefited from it.

EdithWeston · 24/03/2022 09:25

I'm sorry that you think it's pompous.

The underlying fact however - that it is Jamaica who has to initiate the process - remains.

They have been talking without action for at least a decade.

queenofarles · 24/03/2022 09:30

Absolutely true war didn’t start 4 weeks ago but this is the closest we have been to active fire for a very long time. It feels closer to home for most.
Op I’m sure you’ve heard about the Bosnian war in the 90s which is still in "Europe" and closer to the U.K. than Iraq and Syria and Ukraine since you are mentioning this horrible war in Ukraine in particular.
I was 9 or 10 when the Bosnian war started I still remember the image of the men in the concentration camps , so thin their bones are visible . I still remember Amnpours reporting behind a background of thousands of people trying to flee Sarajevo . thousands of people died in the Bosnian Genocide, dumped in mass graves, many are still missing to this day.

At the exact time all of this was going
Royals still went on tours.

All wars are horrible.

Fuel prices ? I wasn’t around in the 70s but my parents sure did and they’ve said it’s far worse than anything going on these days.

I agree that there is an outdated element in these tours , there must be another solution to showing support and appreciation than what we’ve seen in this tour .

ajandjjmum · 24/03/2022 09:34

@TheKeatingFive

There were cameras everywhere! William, Kate and their people cannot dictate who releases which shot.

They have a huge amount of control over which shots are released.

Or equally, organisers should have been able to foresee the very unfortunate situation that was going to be captured and rejigged the visit so they could met them anyone way.

What part of 'plebs held back by wire fencing isn't a good look' are you not getting here?

Context is everything.

The wire fencing is permanently in situ around a football pitch. It had not been erected to separate the kids from W & K.

They went over and saw everyone, but clearly couldn't move the fencing. It would have been extremely harsh not to go, purely because of the optics. I totally accept that 'plebs held back by wire fencing isn't a good look', but would say that people with a heart would ignore 'the look', and do something that would make the kids happy. Good on them! As for the foresight of the organisers - can you imagine the comments if an existing fence (presumably there for a purpose) was removed to facilitate a good photo?

Of course the royals cannot control all of the shots that are released - think Kate's bum/topless in France etc. That is an extremely naive comment.

DowningStreetParty · 24/03/2022 09:40

This isn’t just about the royals though is it. Everyone that is living in the UK now and everyone going back for generations here has benefited financially in some way from slavery and colonialism because of the advantage it has built in to our economy. Rich or poor people alike. Many of them have also been harmed socially and emotionally by the legacy of racism post-slavery and post-colonialism.
How should we respond to all of that? It’s a bit more complicated than giving away some palaces. Give them to who?

TatianaBis · 24/03/2022 09:41

They have been talking without action for at least a decade.

And the U.K. talked about leaving the EU for 20 years and more before they actually did it. That’s ok.

Blossomtoes · 24/03/2022 09:44

@TheKeatingFive

But some think it would have been better for William, Kate and Raheem Sterling to have ignored the kids waiting to see them, so that the optics would be better?

Don't release the shot to the press then, if it isn't appropriate. That doesn't mean the kids can't be met. Not everything needs to be done purely for the cameras.

Nobody’s released the shot. The press pack takes its own shots and uses them as it sees fit.

TheKeatingFive · 24/03/2022 09:45

Of course the royals cannot control all of the shots that are released - think Kate's bum/topless in France etc.

Which she took them through the courts for, remember? I don't think it's me that's naive here.

Context is everything.

Well exactly. These pics aren't going to be viewed with your handy summary alongside them. They'll be seen as is, with all the negative connotations that they cue. The organisation and publicity teams massively fucked this one up.

Roussette · 24/03/2022 09:48

As for the foresight of the organisers - can you imagine the comments if an existing fence (presumably there for a purpose) was removed to facilitate a good photo?

If that's directed at me, I never suggested that. Aides scope out everything in advance, I have no idea of exactly what the whole site looks like but it takes anyone with a brain cell to work out that this would not be a good look in a photo.
I am sure something else could've been arranged. Low barriers across an area or something.

I don't blame W&K for this. It's the tone deaf PR people that arrange it all