Prince William and Kate Middleton visit the Hayes Muslim Centre

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Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, embarked on their tour of the Caribbean a year ago today, March 19. The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas during an eight-day trip to mark the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Their tour came months after King Charles III visited Barbados to mark the nation becoming a republic and amid calls for reparations and apologies for the Royal Family’s role in the slave trade. Quickly, the royal visit became shrouded in controversy, with protests and unfortunately timed photographs dominating the headlines. Now, a royal commentator has claimed the couple are being careful to prevent further issues from happening.

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Emily Nash, Hello! Magazine’s royal editor, recently spoke about the roles William and Kate will play in the future of the monarchy. Appearing on last week’s episode of the publication’s A Right Royal Podcast, she said both the Prince and Princess of Wales are being “very carefully managed to make sure they never put a foot wrong”.

William and Kate are said to be acutely aware of how the world is going to have changed by the time they become King and Queen.

Ms Nash said: “The world’s going to be a very different place by the time William is King from when his grandmother came to the throne. And he’s definitely got an eye on that and he is very modern in his outlook.

“I think he’s reacting to the way that the world is now, and is going to be. And similarly, Kate is looking to the future. I think they’re really conscious of the privilege of their positions and the responsibility of their roles and they want to do the right thing.”

She concluded: “Everything they do between now and then is going to be very carefully managed to make sure they never put a foot wrong.”

After their controversial tour, it was reported that the couple planned to do things the “Cambridge way” and, in the process, “rip up the royal rule book”.

In a groundbreaking address months later, the Prince of Wales said he and his wife had been learning how the “past weighs heavily on the present,” noting their often difficult tour.

The couple were carrying out an engagement in South London when the Prince reached out to the Caribbean community in the UK through his heartfelt speech.

Applauding the contribution of the British-Caribbean communities on Windrush Day, William said: “My family have been proud to celebrate this for decades — whether that be through support from my father on Windrush Day, or more recently during my grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee, as people from all communities and backgrounds came together to acknowledge all that has changed over the past seventy years and look to the future.”

“This is something that resonated with Catherine and me after our visit to the Caribbean earlier this year,” he continued. “Our trip was an opportunity to reflect, and we learnt so much. Not just about the different issues that matter most to the people of the region, but also how the past weighs heavily on the present.”

The Caribbean visit marked the first time the royal couple had faced significant backlash on an official tour. And the protests made up just part of the evidence that a historic shift was — and is — underway, with some nations expected to break ties with the monarchy by electing new heads of state in the coming years.

William reflected on the future governance of the Caribbean countries in a statement at the end of their tour, saying: “I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future. In Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon.

“Catherine and I are committed to service. For us, that’s not telling people what to do. It is about serving and supporting them in whatever way they think best, by using the platform we are lucky to have.”

Ms Nash’s comments came ahead of Commonwealth Day, an annual celebration held to honour the 56 member nations.

This year, King Charles attended the Commonwealth Day Service for the first time as head of the Commonwealth. According to a royal commentator and Prince William himself, Charles may be the last British monarch to assume the position.

Speaking on an episode of Pod Save The King earlier this month, Russell Myers, the Daily Mirror’s royal editor, explained: “I don’t think, as he has said, that William will end up taking it [the role]. He said that he probably won’t be the Head of the Commonwealth. There will be different voices in the next 10-20 years that will come to the fore and he could probably add a voice, rather than being the main player.”

William made the comments during his speech at the end of his and Kate’s trip to the Caribbean. The Prince suggested he doesn’t mind if he isn’t head of the Commonwealth in future, and believes one day it may be led by someone outside of the Royal Family.

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He said: “Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what is on my mind.

“What matters to us is the potential the Commonwealth family has to create a better future for the people who form it, and our commitment to serve and support as best we can.”

Reflecting on the Prince’s “desire to serve the people of the Commonwealth and to listen to communities around the world,” Mr Myers said the royal association with the Commonwealth will be “very apparent when they do their foreign tours”.

Similarly, Pauline Maclaran, a professor of Marketing & Consumer Research at Royal Holloway University, claimed Kate and William will take a “much more humble approach” to royal service.

Describing the pair as “change-makers”, Professor Maclaran told Express.co.uk: “I think what we see with William and Kate is offering to serve and be much more humble in their approach. And, of course, they need that to get through this period of transition from the Queen to Charles — who is known to be quite a privileged individual.

“The whole focus on diversity and woke issues are making the topic of white privilege really quite an uncomfortable one, so the royals have to deal with that as well.

“And we see Kate and William much more willing to show this other side of service and were taking commands from the public, rather than commanding the public. I think that’s how they dealt with the Caribbean trip that was deemed a bit of a PR disaster.”

She added: “I think William was very shocked at the mistakes made and the reactions; he then realised that he had to take more control of how things were managed.

“And again putting the emphasis on service: ‘We’re not going to try to be the head of any state that doesn’t want us, but tell us if we can be of service to you,’ is the approach I understand he took as the outcome of the tour.”

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