Senior royals set for two years of tours in bid to protect Commonwealth relations


Senior Royals are now set for two years of tours in a bid to protect relations with members of the Commonwealth.

Despite a minor blip in tours, and only having one since the King became monarch, a palace source said last night: “State visits are back in business.”

It has been reported that the King, Queen Camilla, and the Prince and Princess of Wales are keen to show that “soft diplomacy” will help relations with countries since as Australia.

Despite apparent frustration over the perceived slow process for approving visits, various visits have now been confirmed.

William is planning a visit to New York confirmed for September, while he and his wife Kate are expected to visit Singapore in the autumn.

Due to the increase in visits, the couple may also bring along their three children – Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five – to visits.

As The Mail on Sunday has revealed, King Charles and Queen Camilla will also travel to Kenya later this year.

Although it is a major part of the Commonwealth, Kenya does not recognise the King as Head of State.

Plans are also reportedly underway to pull through with some previously cancelled trips, such as the King and Queen’s visit to France earlier this year.

In March, the royal couple had been due to travel to France, but the visit had to be cancelled due to riots.

The King will visit also Samoa next year when the country hosts a Commonwealth heads of government meeting.

Earlier this year, a top diplomat in Australia warned that it is “inevitable” that Australia will abolish the monarchy and King Charles as Head of State in time.

Australians’ appetite to become a republic, and scrap having a Head of State, particularly heightened when King Charles became monarch.

Plans would mean that Australia would follow in the footsteps of Jamaica, who are one step ahead of them.

Last year during their visit to the Caribbean, Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness told William and Kate that Jamaica wanted to be fully independent and address the “unresolved” issue of slavery.

Earlier this year, Professor Rosalea Hamilton, who co-chairs the governance and human rights campaign group Advocates Network Jamaica, spoke to Express.co.uk about the King’s role in Jamaica.

She said: “It is important to remove the King as Head of State, but removing the institutional arrangement that we’ve inherited is as important, or today even more important, than the King himself.

“The highly centralised governance structure that shuts out the voice of the Jamaican people, we say, must change.

“We’re advocating for a republic that makes the Jamaican people sovereign.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.