Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall did a tour of Liverpool this week. They seemed to be in an especially good mood. We haven’t talked much about Charles and Camilla since his big 70th birthday celebrations last year, which was right around the time everything fell apart between the Sussexes and Cambridges, and all the bad press against Meghan went into overdrive. We didn’t even talk about how Camilla was allegedly sick over the holidays, or how she seems to be cutting back on royal work these days.
This week, Clarence House confirmed something that had been rumored for a week or so: Charles and Camilla will be going on tour in March. They’ll be visiting St Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, all over the course of about 10 days. The Cuba leg of the trip will be the first time a member of the British royal family has visited the island. And there are concerns.
For one, Senator Rick Scott of Florida has already sent a letter to Charles, arguing that if Charles visits Cuba, it will be a terrible message to send. Florida Republicans have always banged this drum, that Cuba has an appalling human rights record (it’s true) and it’s a brutal dictatorship. But also: under Obama, America began to normalize relations with Cuba and we’ve got some kind of embassy there now too. It seems strange to think that Prince Charles would have to concern himself with what basically amounts to local Florida politics at this point.
Speaking of the American embassy in Cuba though, we still don’t know exactly what’s happened to State Department employees in Havana, but many suspect the Cuban government has launched “sonic attacks” targeting Americans. American diplomats and their families have described everything from hearing loss to headaches and possible head trauma from the “bizarre noises” they’re being subjected to. My point? Cuba still sounds pretty shady, and it will be interesting to see if anything strange happens to Charles and Camilla while they’re there.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
And why are they visiting Cuba? If’s a personal vacation, sure, but part of a royal tour?
Because the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (the UK version of the State Department) asked them to .
All these tours and visits are at the behest of either UKGOV or the FCO get asked to send one of The Firm by a foreign government and the decide who they will send .It’s called Soft Diplomacy .
This one was announced the same day as the Sussexes visit to Morocco which is Brexit related as they need to keep Rabat on side so the Spanish don’t try to blockade Gibraltar once Franco’s Hard Border goes back up .
Felipe and Letizia just finished an official visit to Morocco. Everybody is trying to get Morocco on side.
If they can visit Saudia Arabia and China then I don’t see anything wrong with them visiting Cuba.
Yes. I understand the concerns that Americans have with Cuba from a political perspective (in terms of “optics”) but the royals have visited other countries that have horrible track records re: human rights, dictatorships, etc.
ETA to clarify, I understand why people are saying the royals shouldn’t go. Cuba is problematic on several fronts. But I’m not sure its the role of Rick Scott to tell the British royals where they should and should not travel.
Exactly Becks1, just like Obama should not have been telling Brits how to vote in the referendum – I’m sure he wasn’t doing it just for the good of the UK alone.
Anyway, heard of building bridges? Better than building walls!
Canada has had diplomatic relations with Cuba for decades so it’s only the US obsessed with this.
Exactly
Randomly, I’m quite excited that they’re coming here … wonder if I can get Cammy out for a happy hour gin and tonic and a ciggie?!!
Surely a mojito would go better with that cigar?
I see a problem with them visiting Cuba.
They are supposed to be on OUR side.
That being said, I’ve always wanted to visit Cuba.
The food is incredible and I’ve always read that’s it’s almost like
going back to the 1950s, however, that’s not all good and I’m not allowed to
visit. Gov’t/military/security clearance sh*t.
I don’t think I’ll be able to visit in my lifetime.
I had hopes when Castro died but same old, same old.
The royals need to cancel that part of their trip in solidarity and Saudi Arabia can kiss my American ass too. I’ve been there.
I’ve been to cuba twice.
You are not missing anything.
Glad Charles and Camilla are visiting.
Thank you for that. Cuban cigars are highly over-rated too. P.S. You don’t see Americans risking their lives to take rafts to Cuba. Just sayin’.
Your side? Please. They are representatives of a completely different country and their goal is to boost relations with commonwealth states and other countries, as the UK sees fit.
And many countries enjoy travelling to Cuba for vacations year in/year out (many because there are NO Americans there – bonus points for Cuba).
As for the Royals, they definitely don’t need to cancel because Americans don’t approve.
Canada has maintained relations with Cuba and has the largest trading relationship with the US so it’s really just a US obsession by a vocal minority keeping this up. Cubans can’t be helped if relations don’t open up with them. And since the US deals with China and other dictatorships there is no legitimate reason to continue the embargoes. Obama did the right thing.
The UK is not required to be on the “side” of the US.
Rumor was the so called sonic attack was really crickets chirping. I kid you not. I am not sure if it was satire but am sure I read that. Also I have no problem with them visiting Cuba. It’s an affront to trump if I ever saw one Several friends have visited and said it was an amazing experience even though it was quite backward in terms of modern facilities.
Cuba is a country which has really struggled for so many reasons but I think it’s important to remember that history is very distorted when read through the eyes of Americans and the British, who still seem to struggle to understand that the whole world does not wish to live like them.
Yeah, it would have been satire. They can’t say it’s a sonic attack and nobody is even really totally pointing the finger at Cuba, but there are several quite sick Canadian diplomats, all of whom have concussion-like symptoms with no head trauma, and all of whom were stationed in Cuba from 2017-19.
Actually no. It’s not satire. I just checked to be sure. They narrowed the sound down to a specific type of cricket. When listened to indoors,the echoing of the sound off the walls may have an effect on humans. It’s crazy.
But I think it is important to keep the lines of communication open even with those whom we disagree. Open and continuous dialogue is the only way forward.
Yep. I read about the cricket theory too. It’s not satire, it actually has good evidence.
In Ben Rhodes’ book, The World as It Is, the Cuba negotiations were the most fascinating part IMO. It took YEARS and lots of meetings in Toronto, lol. It was really interesting to see the “inside baseball” of those negotiations.
On a lighter note – the first thing I thought when I heard this was “so Meghan is definitely due in mid April.” I had thought late march to early april was more likely but I don’t see Charles traveling on a tour like this if she was due around then. Also, the Cuba part of this is going to get big press, so I don’t think they would time that around her due date. (unless they want to take the pressure off her?)
The royals go abroad at the request of the British government. If Charles and Camilla are going to Cuba, then it’s because the government has asked them.
NBC and others reported that Putin is most likely responsible for the sonic attacks in Cuba. Russia still wants access to that land to threaten the U.S. with missiles. I assume Charles is visiting to not-so-subtly remind Putin that the allies are not going to let that happen.
Look at Camilla’s boots! Swank! And I think it’s adorable how PC and Cams match their blue outfits, it’s a great color overall, and it does add to their “team” vibe.
As for Cuba–Do you think Brexit is “pushing” them to make all of these “outreaches” despite the optics? I dunno know about a lot of the policy surrounding Cuba though, so I’m just guessing here.
good for them… and I don’t believe that sonic attack story is from cuba; but I could definitely believe it’s from whatever security/surveillance procedures established by uncle scam.
Am I the only one who is slightly worried about Camilla? She was sick over the holidays and is cutting back work–isn’t that the opposite of what royals are expected to do? My first thought was I wonder if she is “sick”. I have a soft spot for ol’ Cams.
No, you’re not alone. I have thought Camilla is not looking as robust as she usually does over the past year. I hope she is alright. I have a soft spot for her too.
I don’t think she was sick, and I don’t think she is cutting back on duties either. Over the Xmas holiday season she chose to spend time with her children and grandchildren.