Guns fired in Hyde Park to celebrate Queen's 96th birthday

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As the monarch celebrated her 96th birthday, Buckingham Palace was yesterday forced to announce the Earl and Countess of Wessex have pulled out of visiting one of their destinations, Grenada, after an extraordinary dispute over the planned programme. It comes after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge faced a barrage of criticism during their Caribbean tour last month.

Sources said Grenada’s Government had asked for the Wessexes’ visit to be called off after officials complained that Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, were only going to spend a few hours there during their week-long tour.

One said: “There were concerns it was going to be very expensive for taxpayers in Grenada and they were only coming for eight hours.” Others said it was felt the couple’s tour would fail to achieve its twin objectives – to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and to showcase the islands visited.

Buckingham Palace said: “In consultation with the government of Grenada and on the advice of the Governor General, The Earl and Countess of Wessex’s visit to Grenada has been postponed. The Earl and Countess hope to visit at a later date.”

Edward, 58, and Sophie, 57, have specialised in forging ties with Caribbean nations over the years.

Their tour, which starts in Saint Lucia today, will now take them to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda.

The root of the latest problem is they are using Saint Lucia as a base and only travelling to the other island nations on day trips.

Their plans had already been revised after the Cambridge’s tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas ran into trouble.

Prince William and Kate faced controversies over the monarchy, calls for reparations and apologies for slavery and accusations that the royals represented a bygone era of colonialism.

The problems on that tour are set to change future royal visits.

And Palace officials had tried to remove engagements from the Wessexes’ tour that risked provoking similar controversy.

Edward and Sophie are prepared for some difficult situations. Campaigners calling for Britain and the Royals to pay reparations for their part in the slave trade plan to present a letter demanding compensation during their visit to Antigua.

Dorbrene O’Marde, chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission, said there had been an “absence of an apology from the Crown…for their role in the enslavement of African people”.

Meanwhile Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has called for his country – and the other seven Caribbean nations where the Queen is head of state – to replace the monarchy with elected home-born presidents.

When the Cambridges visited Jamaica, Mr Browne said the country was right to signal its intention to replace the monarchy.

He also told Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner that cutting ties with the Queen was an aspiration of all independent Caribbean countries.

He said: “We have individuals who can serve as presidents of our respective countries and I believe that each country within the Commonwealth Caribbean all aspire to become a republic.”

In Grenada, the main opposition party wants to end the monarchy.

But the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in a referendum and it is doubtful there is sufficient support. Previous votes in 2016 and 2018 – aimed at ending Grenada’s colonial justice system and making Grenadians swear an oath of allegiance to their country instead of the Queen – both failed.

But there have been controversies. The Queen’s representative, Governor General Dame Cecile La Grenade, has faced criticism for wearing the insignia of her office.

Some consider it racist because it depicts a white St George trampling on the neck of a black Satan.

In St Vincent and the Grenadines, PM Ralph Gonsalves lost a 2009 referendum to replace the monarchy and has signalled his reluctance to raise the issue again.

Buckingham Palace said the Wessexes will celebrate the culture, future and vibrancy of the islands on their tour.

In Antigua, they will meet the national rowing team.

And in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Edward will meet athletes training for the next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

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