Royal tours of Caribbean to be axed to avoid protests Evolving toward republics – Express

This year has seen a flurry of royal tours across the Commonwealth as the nation gears up for the Queens Platinum Jubilee. Last month, Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, visited Papua New Guinea, while Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, went to Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, and Antigua & Barbuda. In March, Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, also toured Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

And the latest visit to mark Her Majestys 70-year reign has seen Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, fly to Canada.

After the couple arrived in the country, where the Queen is head of state, Charles gave a speech in which he recognised the vital process of reconciliation over the mistreatment of indigenous people.

He and Camilla are far from the only royals who have had to confront historic injustices while touring the Commonwealth recently.

William and Kate, and Edward and Sophie grappled with Britains colonial past as they faced protests and demands for reparations over the damaging legacy of the transatlantic slave trade a process the Royal Family was historically involved in.

Amid efforts to address British colonialism in the Caribbean, royal tours to the region will now be scrapped altogether, according to Marlene Koenig, a royal historian and librarian who has researched Britains Royal Family for more than 40 years.

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Speaking to Express.co.uk, she said: I think those kinds of tours may be pass.

Certainly, I don't think there'll be any more tours to the Caribbean nations.

Asked if this was because of the protests and demands the royals will face, Ms Koenig said: Absolutely.

The historian claimed that most Caribbean countries were on their way to becoming republics and removing Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state as Barbados did in November.

She said: I think there is no need for them to go because most of these countries are evolving toward republics.

Calculations of how much the Royal Family has benefitted from slavery are fraught with difficulty, but links between the two can be traced back to the Sixteenth Century.

In 1562, John Hawkins included enslaved African people in his cargo during a voyage approved by Queen Elizabeth I.

Some royals like the Duke of Gloucester backed the MP William Wilberforces movement to abolish the slave trade, however many others supported slavery such as the former King, William IV.

William and Kate were accused of benefitting from the Royal Familys historic links to slavery when they landed in Jamaica and faced demands for an apology from local people.

The Duke of Cambridge expressed profound sorrow for the appalling atrocity of slavery as he addressed Jamaicas Prime Minister and other officials.

Ms Koenig praised the couples overall handling of the trip and for confronting difficult issues head on.

She said: I think they did everything that they were supposed to do. They spoke out, they listened.

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Royal tours of Caribbean to be axed to avoid protests Evolving toward republics - Express