The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s dumb, keen Pandemic Train of Doom tour has become a massive political hot potato, unsurprisingly. I mean, as soon as they announced it, it sounded moronic and like it would cause a million headaches among politicos, healthcare workers and first responders. Remember this, as well: William and Kate wanted credit for thinking up this train tour all on their own. They wanted credit for riding around Scotland, England and Wales, personally “thanking” first responders, whose time the Keens are wasting. Not to mention their little train tour is costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds – all because Kate wanted to go on a choo-choo! – and they very well might be leading a superspreader tour, especially when they’re wandering around maskless.
So, the politics. When William and Kate arrived in Edinburgh yesterday, immediately there were Scottish people all up in arms because A) the only way English people can cross the border into Scotland is for work and B) there are strict protocols in Scotland about public gatherings and leaving the house and all of that. When Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (she’s like the prime minister for Scotland) was asked about the Cambridges’ journey to Edinburgh, she had some terse words:
Following a response on social media to the Earl and Countess of Strathearn arriving in Edinburgh this morning for a royal visit, Nicola Sturgeon was asked to provide some clarity on the situation which some people have suggested is in breach of cross-border travel restrictions which are currently being enforced in Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon responded: “The royal visit is a matter for the royal household and the arrangements around it, and I think any questions of those arrangements, should be directed to the royal household. The Scottish Government was advised about the intention to visit and we made sure that the royal household were aware, as you would expect, of all of the restrictions in place in Scotland so that that could inform both the decision and the planning of the visit but I think any questions about that should be directed to the royal household.”
Basically, Sturgeon is like “don’t ask me, this visit is the royals’ mess alone.” Which I don’t really believe – maybe Sturgeon didn’t give her explicit permission for the visit, but she was definitely informed about it and probably had to sign off at some level. As for the Cambridges’ traveling to Scotland, their claim is that they *were* there to work. Get it? Because their busy-work and keenness is “work” in their mind. Anyway, now English MPs – all Tories – are mad at Sturgeon because she wasn’t groveling with gratitude that Tweedledee and Tweedlebuttons deigned to visit her country in the middle of a deadly pandemic. This piece also includes some fascinating stuff from a “royal source.”
A furious Tory MP has hit out Nicola Sturgeon who accused her of being rude to Prince William. The comment came after the First Minister revealed that the Scottish Government had warned the royal household in advance about the ban on travel between England and Scotland. Despite that, the Earl and Countess of Strathearn arrived in Edinburgh on Monday morning on the first stop of their tour of the UK. The trip was criticised by public health experts.
Sturgeon’s comments infuriated an unnamed Tory MP. He told MailOnline: “This man is the future King of Scotland. She has no right to try to stop him. It is very unsubtle and I think it will backfire on her because there are a lot of loyalist Scots who would be pretty appalled that she would behave in such a rude manner. She should know better.”
A royal source defended the trip, telling The Herald: “Travelling across the border is permitted for work purposes. The Duke and Duchess [of Cambridge] travelled to Scotland to carry out their work, thanking frontline workers who have done so much for the country throughout the pandemic. The visits were planned in consultation with the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments.”
There is an exemption in the rules that allows people to “travel for work, or provide voluntary or charitable services”, however, this should only be “where that cannot be done from your home”.
At this point, I kind of wonder if the Keens are just useful idiots for some larger deflection scheme cooked up with Prince Charles – who is still enraged about The Crown – and Boris Johnson, who needed something else besides Brexit to dominate the headlines. It would not surprise me at all if they sent Moose & Squirrel to Scotland without even telling them their larger purpose was, in fact, to make asses of themselves. It would be funnier that way, if all of the powerful elites in Britain know that William and Kate make asses out of themselves wherever they go.
And finally, Scottish peeps were reporting Will & Kate to the police for breaking lockdown rules. Unfortunately, the Tweedlekeens were out of Scotland in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, and besides, the worst that could happen would be a few hundred pounds in fines.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace.
Oh Kaiser, you’re on fire today. Moose & Squirrel! Tweedlekeens! Thanks for the LOLz on my long day at work.
This tour is going exactly the way I thought it would.
I know!!! Moose and Squirrel. I so needed the laugh this morning from both articles I read. Thank you Kaiser!
I mean Scotland is perfectly capable of taking care of itself and raising money, visiting hospitals or whatever these W&K do without royals stepping in.
Funny piece of trivia, as an F*** you to the english, it is possible to buy your own Lairdship in the Scottish highlands for as little as £40 per square meter of land. (Google it).
I actually have a friend who did this. She is “Lady” of a tiny square of dirt and she wears it like a badge of honor from her house in Sarasota, Florida. You can’t make this up.
Is that what Scott Disick did?
The vast majority of the land up here is owned by rich English aristocrats, or very old, very conservative Scottish families, so it’s not much of an eff-you – you’re paying them for the privilege. It’s a nice wee scheme they have running to help bolster their absurd estates.
I have one!
Moose and Squirrel hahahahaahahaahaahahahaha. This tour is such a disaster. You can wear pants like you SIL Kate, but you can’t fake common sense and this tour is flying in the face of any sense.
Moose & Squirrel? Let’s take it one step farther: Rockate & BIllwinkle.
Love it! Weren’t Moose & Squirrel Russian/Soviet operatives or am I remembering wrong?
@bettyrose I think that was Natasha and Boris. AKA, Ivanka and Jared. Or Melania and Donald. All one and the same.
@Bettyrose: Moose and Squirrel is what Natasha and Boris (the soviet spies) called Bullwinkle and Rocky.
I sincerely hope William will never be King. In social change, things happen very slow, for a very long time, and then all of the sudden. I hope something changes in the next few years and someone puts a fork in the monarchy altogether. All of the wealth should be redistributed.
I know! I had my citizenship ceremony yesterday, and had to pledge allegiance to the queen and her heirs, and honestly it was a bit painful.
Congratulations, Doro!
Oh, wow, really? That’s a tough one, vowing allegiance to this lot.
Congrats on the citizenship! Here’s hoping that the allegiance part will be obsolete in a few years.
William will NOT be King of Scotland. They’re going to go for independence and tell him to go and “do the thing that makes babies with Kate or is fun with Rose in the sack” himself.
As i said yesterday the Scottish Gov would have facilitated this and as it was for work, they were not breaking any restrictions. Several of Sturgeons MPs travel to and from London for work so she really has no argument and no base to refuse to let them make the trip. She’s just complaining about it as she is trying to save face as she is under increasing pressure and criticism for refusing to review the restrictions in Scotland even thou cases have been consistently falling in many areas even before she implemented her rules. She knows that if she is seen promoting this then she can’t justify continuing the current restrictions in Scotland.
From what I’ve seen the reactions in Scotland have been mixed, but mostly I don’t think anyone paid any attention to it. The visit and purpose was overshadowed by Sturgeons whinging.
It’s also worth noting that Berwick is also in Tier 3 and no one was complaining about them visiting there.
Rant above aside this is just a train wreck of a tour and they are being dragged on twitter even before the First Minister made her comments. Have been watching the footage and they are both awkward as fk. Their body language screams ‘we do not want to be here’.
I agree with the body language. They have zero desire to be doing this. They don’t care at all. Kate had to have a cue card to write a basic thank you message on a board. I do love how the British press and RR’s are trying so hard to make this tour seem like a wonderful idea because of all dragging. It’s so funny to watch.
I’ve seen people saying that this tour was totally Will and Kate’s idea, and I really don’t think it was, not completely. I think they were told to get off their butts and actually work – I wonder if Charles was appalled at the “5 Big Insights” and was like, that doesn’t count as work, LOL – and the royal train was used as a carrot to get Kate to do something. It’s pretty obvious they don’t want to be there and considering how short the tour is (3 days, ha, right), its just so clear this was thrown together in an attempt to do “something.”
They are severely lacking in charisma. Kate seems to have gotten a talking to beforehand to stay in the background and nod silently. The mask will prevent her typical guffawing so she may be at a loss as to how to look like she’s enjoying herself and she has just given up.
Presumably you’ve been talking to different Scots from me because everyone I know is horrified that we can’t visit our grannies and those two come swanning up at the worst possible time. You have to be pretty obsessively SNPbad to be supporting this visit just because the First Minister criticised it.
Could Sturgeon really have told them they couldn’t come though? I mean we all know this bs isn’t “work” but it’s not like she could tell them to buzz off. So someone probably advised this was happening they were like… here are the rules have fun. I also think most people acknowledge that MP work is a little more important than eating marshmallows and waving to people.
(That said parliament should be way more online than it currently is. In Canada there was a battle especially from the MP in Oklahoma, but they were doing zoom sessions by the late spring. )
There’s a Canadian MP in Oklahoma?!
For a while there was. She decided to go to where her husband lives in Oklahoma instead of where her riding is in Alberta because her adult step daughter had issues or something. In any case it was deeply ironic that she was opposing parliament sessions to be held by zoom and she was rude to the former leader of the Green Party about it. That is until someone went public with the fact she was in the US, with her new husband because that’s where her constituents in Alberta would want her to be during a national emergency. Of course alberta votes conservative no matter what so her seat is safe despite this nonsense.
You mean wine mom? And that is not a compliment. Yup. Canadian MP, married an American, spent a lot of time in the U.S., granted it was lockdown. She’s one of the Conservative party’s trolls. Polievre being the other one.
So happy they pointed out this was a Tory MP who protested and not Labour. Those Tories are showing their asses and can keep their future king of Scotland.
Those two are idiots, the one who needed a cue card to write a simple message and the other clown who joked about the virus.
The phrase “future king of Scotland” is so utterly jarring to me as an American. I have to wonder if these scolding articles insisting “people” must show deference to their supposed rulers are doing massive damage to an already damaged brand. They keep putting themselves into positions that show just how impotent and powerless they are and stamping your feet and demanding respect is, to misquote Tywin Lannister, the best way to show that you are not, in fact, a king. The same with all the whining about the Crown. At the very least, good PR management would figure out that they need to hide their impotence, not constantly put themselves in positions to broadcast it.
Trust me it’s pretty jarring to Scots as well.
Bahahaha excellent Tywin Lannister reference 🙂
Even if she did sign off and approve it all, it’s… “smart” (I know another word would probably fit better) of her to use this as an opportunity to try and light even more fire under the Scottish Independence movement if an independent Scotland is what she wants
The thing with that is that the Scottish people want to keep the Monarchy – that was one of the big things that came out of the last IndyRef. She needs to tread carefully with this as it could blow up in her face – she can’t use it to beat Boris and Westminster with as it was nothing to do with them. Attacking the Royal Family directly is a bad move on her part. Now if it was a stick to beat Boris and Westminster with, different story.
Oh I think she knows that. IIRC her party actually wants to keep the monarchy in an independent Scotland.
But I also don’t think her comments are the “anti-monarchist” comments people are taking them as. All she said was “This tour is on the Royal Household. We told them the rules and it’s up to them”. Yes it does come off as trying to blame the royals when she would have had a hand in approving this at a certain level but it’s not super anti-monarchist.
It comes off as more “Take it up with the people who organised the tour as it wasn’t our idea” rather than “We don’t want the royals to ever visit us and never will!”
I can totally see why the Scottish are mad, not only for the trip, but with London and Boris Johnson: they were fiercely against Brexit, I remember this.
https://www.euronews.com/2019/03/29/scotland-s-message-of-love-for-europe-as-brexit-looms
I guess they are hating whatever the Cambridges represents.
London was also fiercely against Brexit. Johnson and his ilk in the Westminster Parliament wanted it. Not the great city of London.
Imagine having such egos and being filled with such entitlement to think “We *MUST* go on a tour across the UK, pandemic be dammed! The people *MUST* see us bringing cheer!”
what selfish twats.
These Covidiots. They are the dimmer version of Javanka, and that’s saying something, but just as entitled, out of touch, undeserving and useless.
I wonder how many people are on the train. Is it just W&K and staff or are royal rota included? It very well could be a super spreader. Also they are pretty loosely defining ‘work’.
I think the rota travel separately.
Chris Ship-stirrer has been posting photos of his drive following the train to different locations.
What a sad little job that man has 😂
Frankly their behavior seems kinda Trumpian. Like Trump and his fam are thrilled to have their little popularity rallies because it’s “good for the country” and “patriotic” but really it’s just ego-serving superspreader-dom.
@Lizzie, was just thinking about this, how many people are part of this? It’s not just Will and Kate crossing borders.
I figure, at least a dozen on the train. Will and Kate, her hairdresser (as per I believe Emily Andrews), obviously, a dresser for all those outfit changes. Figure at least two people to cook and serve and clean up dishes for everyone who’s traveling, at least one housekeeper (doubt they’re making their own beds). At least one RPO for each of them. Probably two engineers, maybe one additional train staff. Come to think of it, probably also at least one PR/secretary – someone has to interface with the locals at each stop, and tell Will and Kate where they’re supposed to be (and hand Kate her index card). Someone also is sending photos and information back to KP to be posted on Instagram, etc.
As far as media, have seen reference to Chris Ship, also a Getty photographer is credited with some of the photos, sounds like they are traveling separately, not on the train. Most likely a few more media people, including a video guy. So say, at a very minimum, 16 people are part of this traveling circus going from place to place during a pandemic. Idiots.
I didn’t know Scotland was still dealing with so many restrictions. Yeah, this train tour should’ve been delayed until at least we know and can be sure of the results of the covid vaccine.
“A furious Tory MP” “a royal source” no one ever wants to put their names behind these comments, if they even exist in the first place.
It’s one thing to ignore resections for work but to plan public events for the sake of photos and publicity during a pandemic…..their team is dumber than I thought.
The reaction to this tour is so bad, RRs are forcing the sussexes to take over the news cycle.
It seems to me that her hands were tied. She couldn’t deny them coming to Scotland, so she had to make note of her displeasure. W&K knew the guidelines for coming to Scotland, but they disregarded them because they think they are above the rules when Scots have been cooped up for months. And their “work” excuse is BS, as this tour is not essential to anything and could’ve been done from home. You’ve got government employees getting their panties in a twist because someone was mean to prince William, which is ridiculous. Imagine if Nicola actually barred them from coming and I don’t think she actually could. What is disturbing is the uk is acting like North Korea, in that you can’t criticize the king which is funny since William isn’t the king and won’t be for another 15-20 years. Are brits ok with this blatant censorship?
Sturgeon doesn’t have the power to ban anyone from leaving or entering Scotland – freedom of movement within the UK is the responsibility of the UK gov, it’s not a devolved matter. The cross border ‘ban’ she has in place at the moment is not really legal and even the police in Scotland have said they will not be enforcing it.
Yeah she probably couldn’t refuse the request but she could have handled it better and said something like ‘while we appreciate the gesture but ti would have been better to wait until the new year blah blah blah’.
It’s not the UK, it’s some random unnamed Tory source that precisely no one will pay attention to. That said, the majority of Scots are in favour of escaping this sh*tshow altogether with Independence so no, we’re not okay with it!
“He’s your future king! How dare you!” Is like the Royal version of “Do you know who I am!?”
I’m sure Nicola was put under enormous pressure to allow this to happen but was clearly pissed that it did happen. I’m sure if she had the authority (like, if Scotland was independent for example!), she would have refused.
I agree with her stance. We are in a PANDEMIC with strict protocols and we have these two jugheads running around for PR – because it is PR – albeit very bad PR due to the optics.
THANK YOU. Yes she’s the First Minister and was “briefed” on it but does everyone really think she could have refused their visit? They were going to do it no matter what Scotland thought. I saw on KP’s Twitter that a Tori Stan kept posting their request for this tour by the government. So they keep insisting this is “work”. She had to say yes and this is how she’s combating that pressure, she’s voicing her displeasure in the way she can. Independence for Scotland!!
@Mindy_Dopple: FREEEEEEEEEDOOOOM, in my best Mel Gibson Scottish accent
I dont blame Nicola at all for her reaction. This whole thing is a stupid idea and a waste of time and money, not to mention it’s going to put front line workers at even more risk if they’re supposed to be doing this random gathering for a dumb meet and greet. Wtf.
Imagine being pulled out to grovel to these knuckleheads on the guise of being “thanked” when really it’s just to make them look good. I would be irritated.
Where even are the frontline workers they’re supposedly saying thank you to? I imagined this would be a tour of hospitals and doctors offices and call centers and such. But so far, unless I’ve missed a lot, it seems like they’re just meeting local leaders in train stations and walking around listening to bands and looking at children dressed as reindeer? How is this thanking anyone from the NHS?
There’s also the fact that people were incensed about Cummings little jaunt, which basically damaged public confidence and morale so badly that lockdown was never abided by again to that extent. Johnson stuck up for him in the face of the evidence, and no investigation that was made had any credibility with the public. Cummings had no real necessity to break lockdown, and excused it with a sophistry. Kate and William’s trip has the same air of frivolousness, and the exact same sense of entitlement- the rules that the little people have to follow don’t apply to me. Johnson was dragged badly, and it was really the beginning of the big downward spiral in his popularity. It does not surprise me to see him try to distance himself now, having been burnt once. Nicola is aware of this, and is simply making it clear she does not condone the rulebreaking- whether she can enforce them or not they are there for the protection of all. She is not going to take the fall like Johnson did for a visit that goes against everything she is trying to do for her people. Why should she? If they insist on coming despite her advice, let them explain it to the press themselves. And if the people of Scotland don’t like it, and see it as just another way that they are powerless to defend themselves against decisions made in London against their wishes for their own wellbeing, I am sure Nicola will not lose sleep over it.
Wow Downing Street just threw the Firm under the bus lol. After Sturgeon & welsh ministers complained of the ‘unnecessary’ visits – Downing Street was asked and refused to back the tours& said it was a matter for the palace.
AH, I haven’t seen anything of the Welsh gov complaining. ooh, this tour is getting worse by the day.
Yeah the welsh health minister said meh on the visit but basically people should know to stick to the rules. The Downing Street when asked about whether the visit was covid compliant said it was a matter for the palace & refused to say whether they had approved it. The palace then obviously put in a call as Downing Street then said they were happy with how the tour had gone & how it was a morale boost. lol
The press will get their big photo today and will rave& focus on that & ignore the genuine public misgivings to this tour.
It sounds to me like KP told the Scottish Government that they were coming and that Nicola Sturgeon told them that were guidelines in place for visit Scotland. She didn’t outright tell them yes or no but was probably opposed to them visiting at this time. She was put in a difficult position by KP because telling them that they can’t come to Scotland would have been made into a huge political scandal and would be seen as disrespectful to the Monarchy. I get the sense that KP threw their weight around and that Nicola Sturgeon let them do what they wanted. It’s also interesting that William and Kate would have had to asked permission to travel on the Royal Train from the Government because travel is usually restricted to the Queen, Philip and Charles and Camilla.
I think this is basically correct, though I wonder if they’ve inadvertently revealed a bit too much behind the curtain – we know that *officially* the royals are ‘prohibited’ from engaging in politics, but that’s a laugh because the queen and the cambridges are full-on Tory stans and it’s not subtle in the least. I think there’s a lot more coordination between certain factions of the govt and certain royals than most people would care to admit. Given the political implications of the Scottish referendum convo, that article about the monarchy in The Economist, etc, the Tory govt and the royals were very much aligned in needing to wrangle Scotland back into the cold clutches of the palace, and hence the train tour was born.
This train trip is manna to the Scottish independence movement. I say this as someone who experienced the Quebec separatist movement when it got super close in 95. Treating Quebec as subordinate to the rest of Anglo Canada is not something prime ministers try to do here, although Pierre Trudeau did get a bit close to that line but he was a Québécois so that was acceptable.
So here we have English future future monarch and consort not giving a crap about local Scottish rules so they can boost their own ego. It will not be forgotten.
Whether Sturgeon was trying to save face or not – the response from the tory MP is pretty appalling. She can’t criticize Prince William because he’s going to be king in 30 years? So can anyone in a government position criticize the royals or do they have be total sychophants? This coupled with the criticism about the Crown is not a good look for the royals, IMO.
is the ‘un-named tory mp’ really just William?
Honestly, with Brexit, COVID, etc. a lot has changed since 2014, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Scots weren’t as keen on keeping the monarchy anymore. I went to uni in Edinburgh and still keep in touch, and I get the feeling a lot of Scots are ready to just take the plunge.
Exactly! SO much has changed! People are starting to see the Royals for who they really are now. Brexit, COVID, and impending economic disaster. Abusing and driving out beloved Prince Harry and his wife and child. The Crown reminding people how awful they were to Diana… the list goes on.
People are wondering what is the point of them and are they really worth the money?
Whatever I think about the Windsors and seventy odd Catholics with better claims being overlooked in favour of the Hanoverians, the Queen is “rightful” queen in Scotland as Elizabeth I.
I’m pretty sure the Andy situation isn’t helping either. That wasn’t out in the open in 2014 as it is now.
Scotexit will happen, because the North remembers!
He says future king of Scotland as if that means anything for Scotland and they get funding from the royals. Is the UK becoming Thailand now?
I get the impression that the future king and queen consort of UK are not well respected as opposed to past kings and queens. Times have changed. Will and Kate go home! you should know when you’re not wanted.
It is going to be so awkward if the places they visited see a spike in two weeks.
People were calling the cops on them LOL. GOOD!
I want to see some fines levied! LOL!
Why isn’t the British Media reporting on this fiasco of a trip. If this was H&M, it would be front page with an ugly headlines. Even the not frequent Celebitchy posters complaining about optics and how H&M does not care about the taxpayers.
Ugh, the “Clownbridges” are so inept.
I was working on some notes for my job the other day and went to use the word keen as it would have been appropriate in context and, I could not do it. So I used the word acute instead.
Thanks Willnot and Cannot.
LOL, same.
I know this is silly, but i LOVE that the Scottish people were calling the cops on Bill and Cathy breaking protocol.
As stupid at the whole tour is, I don’t place the blame solely on W&K’s shoulders. This seems to be a “thing” that the royal family does. In times of strife, “the people” need to know that the RF is “with them”. Optics is all the RF really has. Creating a majestic illusion IS their work.
I am, in no way, defending any of them. I’m just stating that this is what they firmly believe; out of touch, as usual.
I do blame them because they have brains but they don’t want to use them to think about how tradition should be evoked uring a damn pandemic. I’ve said this before…they wanted this tour to be their romanticised war effort just as the Queen was lauded for being a mechanic during the war. I don’t even blame the courtiers because they can suggest this but these 2 privileged idiots had to say yes first.
As a Scot I couldn’t wish for independence more. If England wants to keep a monarchy then fair enough but I wouldn’t want the people of Scotland paying for these lazy, workshy, tone deaf chancers.
I like her, she looks like a tough lady not easily duped.
Me too. But I wouldn’t want her steely gaze on me if I’d been up to no good!
This is in breach of protocols established by governments who are already having a hard time enforcing them without this sham of a tour to make a mockery of everyone’s efforts, most of all health workers. It’s utterly irresponsible and negligent.
Here’s a Scottish insult for a couple of Scottish-titled morons:
“Bawbags!”
Hahahaha – that is such as Glaswegian terms. I think there are clips on YouTube of Billy Connelly saying it.
It’s always so hilarious to me what these clueless twits consider “work”. 1st class travel on a luxury train, getting out, waving and smiling, get back on the train. Boom, done. That’s a day’s work on another planet, not connected to reality on earth.
This reads a lot like my relationship with my mother, who imposed a visit on me at the end of summer. No one asked for it, she complained all through quarantine, and it was essentially pointless.
Always so keen to get going! Very little thought put into it
I think Sturgeon worded her statement rather well, actually. She made her position clear without actually showing disrespect… not that I think they don’t DESERVE to be disrespected, the selfish lunkheads, but I don’t see how ppl can cry about the fact that she simply didn’t bow and scrape and kiss their asses. The politics of this are far too delicate to trifle with, it would seem- hasn’t Scotland barely stayed within the UK/subjects of monarchy by mere threads for years and years now?! The fact that the Cambridges are blind to not only those tensions but also the basic respect for health workers and first responders (whose fitting glory they’re are rather cynically trying to showboat around with, in my view) further proves how unfit to “rule” (ew) they really are.
Ok so disclosure I’m Scottish and an urgent care frontline NHS worker so biased towards safety, the reality of what is actually happening to people’s health here and support of the genuinely hard job anyone in power has in all this if they actually care about their responsibilities (and being re-elected). Like others I am also f***ing delighted that they were getting clyped on tae the polis.
If you’re not interested in the politics keep scrollin’…
The FM will have had had no choice but to let them do as they wish. Whatever you think of her politics She’s an unbelievably sharp cookie and she will have realised how this looks to the population struggling to cope with lockdown restrictions/high mortalities/the monumental cock up of the financial support offered by Westminster and resultant poverty in a population who won’t give a flying f*** about wannabe King Billy coming up to golfclap the proles, hence her carefully worded non-supportive statement. Such a tone deaf move on KPs part is a pretty good example for her to tacitly suggest to the (increasing) independence movement that the Scottish parliament’s hands are tied on matters that have significant consequences for their own country (we had no choice, like not being allowed to raise their external funding for COVID-financial support because Westminster said no) and not piss off the parts of the country that still want the monarchy as she respects their (the pro-royals) choice on this. I’m ok-ish with The Queen, but ‘meh’ on the rest of them especially if paying them means less food, well-being, and social mobility for my community.
As someone who moved from ‘No’ to ‘Yes’ on the indie matter this is another example of the growing chasm between England and Scotland that rapidly widened with Brexit – the left and right UK party leaders begged us to vote no then threatened that ‘to stay in Europe we had to stay in the UK union’ which genuinely influenced about half of my friends votes. They then let the population of one country (because it has 10x as many votes as the next biggest) decide to take Scotland out against its wishes just 2 yrs after this.