The royal family tour of the Caribbean was little short of calamitous

Not since English cricketers in the 1980s have official tours of the Caribbean by Brits gone so badly.

Following on from the disastrous visit of the Cambridges to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas in March, where William and Kate were confronted with calls for Britain to make slavery reparations and end the outdated role of the royal family as the head of state in several countries, then Edward and Sophie Wessex were given the same messages in St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda last week.

Added to this were some disastrous PR photocalls and a political scandal on the British Virgin Islands, which is morphing in part to anger over the UK’s colonial role.

Combined with both tours having the whiff of the 1950s – stiff, distant, white VIPs offering platitudes to locals when confronted with genuine political questions – and being completely out of place with the modern world, the visits were little short of calamitous and may even become to be seen as totemic for the family’s and Britain’s continued role in the region in a post-colonial world. It is certainly likely that there will be few such royal visits in the future.

But the impact of protests and plain speaking in the Caribbean might be felt nearer to home as well. It’s a big year for the royal family, with the Queen’s platinum jubilee next month, which will lead to celebrations as well as longer-term questions about the future shape of the monarchy in the UK as well as its importance elsewhere.

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It is clear that when the next king – Charles or William – takes over they will have to try and recast the monarchy into something more suited to today’s complex world. Just as in the Caribbean there will be questions here about the royal family’s relevancy.

In the Caribbean, the issues are quite justifiably Britain’s role in the slave trade and the archaic colonial practices that still exist, but at home it may be more to do with the remoteness of the family, the scandals of Prince Andrew, accusations of racism and the seemingly personal split between brothers William and Harry.

It might just be that the protests in Jamaica and elsewhere are a foretaste of the sort of questions that will be asked of Britain’s royal family closer to home in the coming years.

Yours,

David Harding

International editor