Omid Scobie, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s favorite royal reporter, today criticized the decision to roll out the red carpet in Kenya for the King and Queen’s state visit this week.
Mr Scobie, who was friends with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, shared a photo of Charles and Camilla walking on red carpet instead of mud in Nairobi National Park on Wednesday.
Scobie claimed the royals looked ‘pretty ridiculous’. While he admitted it may have been the decision of their Kenyan hosts – and not the royal family – he insisted that Buckingham Palace aides could and should have stopped it.
His comments came after the Prince and Princess of Wales tour of the Caribbean last year, dominated by the British colonial legacy, protests and some erroneous photos. One time in Jamaica, William and Kate got into an argument about a deeply unfortunate photo of them shaking hands with children through a fence.
Omid Scobie, who criticized Wales at the time, today tweeted the red carpet image from Kenya and questioned the “optics” for the King and Queen, stating: “Even if this was a choice made by the hosts made (and it probably was), the optics of the King and Queen walking a red carpet to avoid dirt in Nairobi National Park is quite ridiculous and out of reach. An informed Palace assistant could easily have asked for it to be removed.”
He added: ‘I’ve had many royal visits around the world and seen aides running around asking for last minute adjustments or changes before royals arrived at engagements (including red carpets that were deemed unnecessary), so here’s a precedent for.’
MailOnline has asked Buckingham Palace for comment.
Omid Scobie shared this photo of the King and Queen on a red carpet in Nairobi National Park, claiming the couple looked “pretty ridiculous and out of touch.”
Mr Scobie said the Palace should have intervened
Queen Camilla in hiking boots as she gave milk to an orphan elephant during the same trip to Nairobi National Park on Wednesday, sans red carpet
The Cambridges greeted young Jamaican fans through a fence last year, which royal experts said was an avoidable mistake by planners that should have been avoided at all costs
ITV Royal Editor Chris Ship said that during the same visit to Nairobi National Park, the Queen put on walking boots and had the chance to bottle-feed orphaned baby elephants at a sanctuary.
He tweeted Mr Scobie, saying: “Kenyans really loved red carpets. I’ve seen more here than on any other royal tour. But otherwise I agree, this looks strange.’
The four-day trip to Kenya, which ended today, is considered a success. While Kate and William’s Caribbean trip was seen as one where lessons had to be learned after a series of photo-op blunders and protests.
The King and Queen have used their trip to East Africa to tackle the ‘painful’ legacy of Empire.
This week he told the Kenyan people of his “deepest sadness and deepest regret” over Britain’s “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” during the colonial era.
In a keynote speech that went far further than many expected, amid calls for an apology for government abuses under his late mother’s rule, King Charles said there was “no excuse” for British “misbehavior” in the East African nation, especially against the Mau Mau. revolt.
At a state banquet in Nairobi, he told the Kenyan president and 350 guests: “It is the intimacy of our shared history that has brought our people together. However, we must also acknowledge the most painful times of our long and complex relationship.
‘The misdeeds of the past are a cause of the greatest sorrow and deepest regret. “There have been abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence against Kenyans while, as you said at the United Nations, they were waging a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty – and there can be no excuse for that.”
King Charles III (C) walks to the plane before it takes off from Moi International Airport
King Charles III and President of the Republic of Kenya William Ruto witnessed the Kenyan Marines’ demonstration at a secret beach landing in Mombasa
King Charles expressed his “deepest sadness and deepest regret” over the atrocities suffered by Kenyans during their struggle for independence from British colonial rule in a speech at a banquet during his state visit to Kenya
But he stopped short of offering a full apology that survivors of the period and local rights groups pushing for reparations from the British government had demanded.
President William Ruto praised Charles for his courage and willingness ‘to shed light on uncomfortable truths that lurk in the dark reaches of our shared experience’
Charles toasts Kenyan First Lady Rachel Ruto during the state banquet
Charles continued: “When I return to Kenya, it is vital for me to deepen my own understanding of these abuses, and to meet some of the people whose lives and communities have been so deeply affected.
“None of this can change the past. But by approaching our history honestly and openly, perhaps we can demonstrate the strength of our friendship today. And as a result, I hope we can continue to build an increasingly closer bond in the coming years.’
The king stopped short of an immediate apology, which carries greater legal liability because it is not the policy of the British government to do so.
His words came as President Ruto delivered an even stronger speech – hinting at further demands for reparations.
He said Britain and Kenya cannot “live in denial of history” and highlighted the “displacement, dispossession and disenfranchisement of indigenous Africans, paving the way for brutal colonialism.”
The president described British efforts to crush the Kenyan people’s struggle for independence as “monstrous in their brutality” and made it clear that he would not accept the £20 million Britain has paid so far in compensation for victims of torture and repression was deemed inadequate.
“While efforts have been made to atone for the death, injury and suffering inflicted on Kenyan Africans by the colonial government, much remains to be done to achieve full reparations,” he said.
But he praised the king for his “visionary leadership” on the issue, saying: “Your exemplary courage and willingness to shed light on uncomfortable truths that lurk in the dark reaches of our shared experience are… commendable.”
“This is a very encouraging first step, under your leadership, to make progress beyond the cautious and ambiguous half-measures of recent years.” We are therefore confident that under your visionary leadership, Kenya-UK relations will continue to flourish for the benefit of our two countries and peoples. ‘