With stinging criticism against the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge over their Caribbean tour ringing in their ears, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex are “desperate” to avoid the same fate.
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The couple are due to embark on a similar visit to Saint Lucia, the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda later this month in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. But New Idea hears they’ve been hunkering down with Buckingham Palace advisers to ensure the oversights made on the Cambridges’ tour doesn’t happen again.
During their time in the Caribbean, Prince William and Kate copped backlash from even the most staunch royalists, who called the tour “culturally insensitive” and “tone-deaf” to Britain’s colonial past.
Uncharacteristic clangers from the royal family’s star duo included shaking the hands of children of colour through iron fences in Jamaica and dodging anti-colonialist protesters in Belize, sparking a wave of anti-royalism around the globe.
Now, sources say Sophie, 57, is determined to salvage her and Edward’s trip.
As a former PR maven, Sophie is “very conscious of the optics and can’t believe the Cambridges’ team let that happen to them,” says a source. “She’s taken an eraser to all of their plans and has put her marketing cap on again.”
The countess has gone through all the proposed engagements for her and Edward, 58, in order to trim down the opulence and limit any appearance of ‘us and them’.
“You won’t see Sophie dripping in diamonds or waving with superiority to local kids. It’s just not the done thing anymore,” continues the source.
New Idea understands the Queen has “breathed a sigh of relief” that Sophie’s taken charge of the Wessexes’ tour.
“Wills and Kate usually don’t put a foot wrong, so she can’t believe they badly misjudged their trip,” says a source. “But Sophie always has been fantastic at bouncing around PR ideas for The Firm. Her Majesty trusts she and Edward will get this right.”
We’re exclusively told Sophie and Edward have already nixed plans to ride around in an open-top Land Rover, which the Cambridges did as a tribute to the Queen’s own visits in the past, but fell flat with critics.
“Sophie knows there’s only one way to do this, and it’s simply getting up close and personal with locals without barricades between them,” says a source.
“Her take is causing some organisational crises, especially when it comes to security, but Sophie knows this is their only chance to make up for what happened and earn back public favour.”
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