Prince William and Kate Middleton in Jamaica on March 24.Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage
PEOPLE’s chief foreign correspondent Simon Perry shares his insight into what it was like coveringPrince WilliamandKate Middleton’s controversial royal tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas.
From Ireland to Australia and India to Malaysia, I have covered several tours with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For a couple who are in what one ex-aide calls “the happiness business,” landing in thecenter of a controversywas a marked change, but they seemed to handle it with grace.
PEOPLE’s chief foreign correspondent in The Bahamas on March21.Courtesy Simon Perry
Chris Jackson-Pool/Getty Images
Despite the backlash, no one covering the tour could miss the joy from those who met the couple, the continuing charm of William and Kate, their deep commitment to those they spoke to or their attentiveness. When she spotted me at the soccer field in Trench Town (a place she really enjoyed visiting), which immediately followed their visit with the Governor-General, which I’d covered, Kate smiled and said, “You had to rush here for the football!” (Like us, Kate had been battling jetlag early on and was up at dawn sending messages back home organizingPrince GeorgeandPrincess Charlotte’s after-school activities.)
Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
The couple are formidable ambassadors of the U.K. and — 11 years after I covered their wedding and tour to Canada soon afterward — deeply united and know how to have fun together. William said he hid under a tarp cover during thedownpour at the start of their sailing eventin The Bahamas, drinking beer with his crewmates — and joked that it had helped them win! And when they finished separately schmoozing at theirlast reception in The Bahamas, they returned to greet each other, William holding out his hand in a mock “pleased to meet you” greeting, and saying “Ah, hi.” Kate laughed and fell into him with his handshake — their arms quickly around their waists.
Kate Middleton and Prince William.Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
Leaving the reception, I walked behind them as they briefly and discreetly held hands as they strolled passed a row of black and white photos of the Queen on previous visits to The Bahamas.
Will the monarchy still be here when William and Kate next visit the islands? Yes. But will they do so as future King and Queen of those countries? Unlikely. I suspect they’ll be relaxed about that change of status in places like the Caribbean. But they’ll still see their role as creating some of that unity — and happiness.
source: people.com
