I’m not tired of talking about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Colonialist Tour. It honestly felt like a watershed moment, the “jumping the shark” of the whole structure of the monarchy and the future of the Commonwealth. These are the same people who are still whining about sh-t the Duchess of Sussex did four years ago – we can still talk about the Flop Tour. So, Omid Scobie was highly critical – and I think fairly critical – of the Flop Tour as it was happening, as the images were coming in. Royal reporters blasted him, only to admit days later that the tour was going poorly for the exact same reasons Scobie enumerated. Scobie appeared on Newsweek’s The Royal Report podcast and he once again pointed out how sheltered William and Kate are and how their staffers are terrible at their jobs. Some highlights:
The Cambridges weren’t respectful towards the political climates: “With a tour such as this you’re visiting former British colonies, countries that have deep history when it comes to slavery that was sort of overseen mostly by Britain, and the royal family at times—it’s impossible to start a trip like that without feeling like it must be acknowledged in some way,” said Scobie. “I think partly the fact that this trip was to do with celebrating the queen’s jubilee… in the process [it] completely forgot about being respectful or mindful of the political climates in each country.”
The bad staff work behind the bad stagecraft: Meinzer said she believed the “whole world” was “cringing” when photographs of William and Kate were released meeting children separated by a chain link fence and also taking part in a military parade “dressed in white” with visual links to colonialism. Scobie provided insight into failings that lay within the Cambridge’s team on this subject: “The most important thing is to have people there who are actually mindful of what looks good and what doesn’t … I just think that that was lacking on this trip… There was no one there to identify [the fence photographs] as potentially problematic. Because we know the reality is that the couple were just trying to meet as many people as possible—there was nothing sinister behind those images—but it was the thoughtlessness.”
Had the tour been undertaken by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, would the reaction have been any different? Scobie continued that he believed the issue was bigger than the Sussex’s and that answers lay with the palace, adding: “I think we have seen in the past where a tour has been able to set the tone from the very beginning. I remember being in briefings for the Sussex’s tour of southern Africa and how it was Buckingham Palace staff who really went out of their way to say that this tour would be a little different. That the couple would be mindful of the politics within the local areas that they were visiting, that we wouldn’t be seeing state dinners, that there wouldn’t be the expensive wardrobes that you’re used to on a royal trip. So that was proof that at one point the palace did know how to make these things work in a modern environment.”
On William’s slavery-was-abhorrent speech: Scobie acknowledged that the prince was placed in a “tough position,” continuing: “For a member of the royal family to denounce slavery, to take ancestorally some sort of accountability for it and to apologize would also greatly affect the future of the royal family, because when you start apologizing or admitting that perhaps some of the wealth you have amassed within your family have come from such horrendous historical moments you’re going to be received with the calls of ‘give it back.’”
No charm: Scobie felt that the event as a whole lacked in the sensitivity needed during a modern tour of these areas, summing up his feelings with: “This tour was the charm offensive [and] it had been all offense, no charm.”
[From Newsweek]
I think Scobie is being completely fair here, but I’m sure the Rota reporters will have their panties in a bunch. Scobie even gives the Cambridges an out to blame most of the mess on bad staff work, but of course if anyone goes too far in that direction, questions will be asked about why, exactly, William and Kate have an all-white staff, and why they’ve never thought to hire better people who would be thoughtful and forward-thinking about the optics of traveling to Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas. Scobie’s reference to the Sussexes’ African tour is interesting too, because… the Sussexes weren’t part of Kensington Palace during that tour. They had their little off-shoot office in Buckingham Palace already by the fall of 2019. Meaning, Meghan and Harry were smart about the optics and they hired people who would show sensitivity. Meaning, KP’s mess is all its own, and William and Kate hire idiots.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.
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