A photograph of King Charles III and Queen Camilla walking a red carpet in the middle of a national park during their state visit to Kenya has sparked backlash online, with a prominent royal author labeling the optics "pretty ridiculous and out of touch."
Charles and Camilla arrived in Kenya on October 31 and departed on November 3, making the visit the first of their reign to a Commonwealth nation.
Increased focus was paid to the visit as speculation arose over whether the new king would address Britain's colonial past in the country, particularly the suppression of the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s, during the reign of his mother, in which over 10,000 Kenyans are estimated to have been killed.
Even if this was a choice made by the hosts (and it probably was), the optics of the King and Queen walking on a red carpet to avoid soil at Nairobi National Park are pretty ridiculous and out of touch. A clued up Palace aide could have easily asked for it to be removed. pic.twitter.com/bnxoGwbgWC
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) November 3, 2023
Kenya became independent in 1963, but remains a member of the Commonwealth of which Charles is head, having been voted in as the successor to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018.
In a speech given at a state banquet on the day of his arrival in Kenya, Charles expressed the "greatest sorrow and the deepest regret" for the "wrongdoings" committed by Britain in the past, but he stopped short of an apology, which would have needed authorization from the British government.
A day after his speech, Charles and Camilla visited the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi National Park, after which they stopped at the park's ivory burning station, where the photographs were taken that earned criticism online.
Meeting Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Albert Mutua, the royals were photographed at the site walking a red carpet that had been laid over the mud track for the purpose. Set against the background of colonial discussions, the pictures drew negative attention.
Omid Scobie, a royal journalist and the author of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle biography Finding Freedom, took to X (formerly Twitter) to highlight the poor optics of the king and queen's photocall.
"Even if this was a choice made by the hosts (and it probably was), the optics of the King and Queen walking on a red carpet to avoid soil at Nairobi National Park are pretty ridiculous and out of touch," he wrote. "A clued up Palace aide could have easily asked for it to be removed."
He then added a postscript, writing: "I've been on many royal visits all over the world and seen aides run around requesting last minute tweaks or changes before royals arrive at engagements (including red carpets that have been deemed unnecessary) so there is precedent for this."
The image was also picked up by British broadcaster ITV's royal editor, Chris Ship, who reposted Scobie's comments, adding: "The Kenyans were very keen on red carpets. I saw more of them here than on any other royal tour. But otherwise agree, this looks odd ... 👑."
This is not the first time that photographs taken on royal tours have earned criticism online.
In 2022, the Prince and Princess of Wales' Caribbean tour was marred by a PR blunder that saw the royal couple photographed shaking hands with people of color though a chain link fence, which was deemed racially insensitive by critics.
The royal family's interactions with people of color and diverse communities has been pulled into focus in recent years after Meghan Markle revealed to Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that there were "concerns and conversations" from within the royal household about the skin color of her future children when she married Prince Harry.
The couple said that the conversation had been raised by an unnamed royal family member, though Harry clarified in 2023 that he did not believe the conversation was racist in its intention, but that it was an example of "unconscious bias."
Despite this, the revelation saw a wave of anti-racist backlash aimed at the monarchy, the after affects of which are still being felt within the institution today.
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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