Much was made about the heavy security detail for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Pakistan trip before they even left Great Britain. What I gathered, at the time, was that security concerns were a main factor in what kinds of events Will and Kate did in Pakistan – there were no walkabouts, very little interacting with the Pakistani public at large, and only a handful of photo-ops where Will and Kate were in the open air, and even then, I’m sure security had the open space on lockdown. But… this is not what I expected. During their big reception in Islamabad, security apparently blocked Pakistani government ministers from meeting Will and Kate. Like, that’s a private event. Everyone there had been vetted and cleared by security. And those ministers still couldn’t get their photo-op with Will & Kate. Hm.
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal tour of Pakistan is delighting their fans – but it appears one event didn’t go down well with officials from the host country. Six Pakistani government ministers walked out of a reception because they weren’t allowed to meet the couple, it is claimed. The officials were said to be “annoyed” by “very stupid” security arrangements, so they decided to leave Monday night’s event hosted by Thomas Drew, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, in the capital Islamabad.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the reception, held at the hilltop Pakistan Monument, in a colourful auto rickshaw, with Kate, 37, wearing a glittering green dress and William dressed in a traditional sherwani suit. Jonny Dymond, the BBC’s royal correspondent, tweeted: “Six Pakistani ministers walked out of the #RoyalVisitPakistan British High Commission reception on Monday night @bbcurdu reports. They were reportedly annoyed at their place in the gathering. Commission response to follow.”
He later wrote: “The Commission has replied. It says the Duke and Duchess ‘were delighted to meet a range of people from across Pakistani society’.”
A report by BBC Urdu said half a dozen ministers and close advisers left the event because they were not allowed to meet the duke and duchess. The report claimed the officials were not allowed to go near the royal couple due to “rigid security arrangements”. An adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan told BBC Urdu that the “very stupid” security measures were made by British officials. Refusing to allow cabinet ministers to meet the royals was “disgraceful,” the unnamed adviser added. The adviser said Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry would make a complaint to British authorities.
It’s more than likely that the Cambridges had no idea the lengths their security people had gone to, and they probably didn’t know that certain government ministers were not on the “must shake hands with” list. And that’s all this was – it’s an opportunity for all of those smaller political players to get a photo-op or a handshake from the British royals. That’s bare-bones soft diplomacy. But, as I said, it’s more than possible that William and Kate didn’t know that they were inadvertently “snubbing” some ministers. Still, if that was the case… the British High Commission could have done a better job organizing the meet-and-greet so no one stormed out in a hissy.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.
I dont think they did this on purpose. I agree with Kaiser that they probably didnt know all the security measures.
But the real point is that this hiccup went largely unreported, whereas if it had been the Sussexes, it would have be blown up with headlines in the DM full of lies, such as, ‘Ministers Storm out of Meeting with Meghan and Harry’” or “ Harry and Meghan Snub Guests’. But because its the Cambridges this matter, which is a diplomatic incident has been brushed under the carpet and the couple have been protected from even the slightest criticism.
OMG, yes. The headlines would say that “Meghan (and only Meghan) has set back British diplomacy 100 years!”.
As the futute-future King and Queen, they should consider this a teachable moment and realise they and their team need to do all of their homework. Soft diplomacy is a massive part of their jobs.
+1
Excellent post and well stated. I do believe like Kaiser they likely had no idea about the issue but they sure will by the time they get home and someone from their office should issue an apology. It’s a diplomacy issue and would undue the whole purpose of this tour.
It sounds like butthurt politicians complaining about not being prioritized over other people
What it reads like to me too. 🤷♀️🤷♀️
What I think too.
Yeah, if they were essential it would be “minister of finance NAME” was excluded, not half a dozen unnamed people. Also, “upset at their placement” isn’t the same as “will and Kate refuses pictures”.
It says they were not allowed to meet/go near the couple. It seems pretty obvious this is was a mess-up on someone’s part.
There is reference to cabinet members not being allowed to see them. Cabinet members form part of the executive in a parliamentary government along with the prime minister. This is actually a pretty big screw up on the part of the high commission. They are implying that cabinet members of the Pakistani government are security risks. There are no stories of this happening to equivalent Canadian or Australian cabinet ministers in other tours.
I didn’t read it as they were deemed security risks, just not that they ranked high enough for one on one time and were pissy about it.
I don’t think this is W&K’s fault, but it sounds like someone messed up for sure.
Government ministers are usually elected members or top level bureaucrats. It would be unheard of for someone at that level to have security issues. This is the UK security being absurd and probably some racial bias. I bet this has never happened to equivalent canadian or Australian government ministers.
W and K probably didn’t even realize it happened until someone told them. This isn’t on them.
Which is specifically why I said I didn’t think it was their fault.
Didn’t they say they wanted to meet as many Pakistanis and regular people as possible? If that was their objective, then this was not a success. Sorry, but this trip was a 4 day Diana cosplay and photo opportunity. Even the photos of Pakistan itself we’re nice. The only positive I can think of is that the outfits were nice.
This is just not correct at all. You’re free to dislike the Cambridges all you like but this trip was very successful. There are tons of pictures of them meeting ‘regular’ people, and so many beautiful pictures of Pakistan. Enough with ‘cosplay’, both couples tend to include Diana in the things they do/say/wear.
@sunshine
I agree with your assessment.
What if this happened to Meghan and Harry? Could you imagine the british press would vilify them!
The story states they were “annoyed at their place “ at the reception. Makes me wonder if If there’s more to it than “security” which would have applied to all attendees. Regional politics? Internal positioning type of thing? Who knows but it struck me as an odd statement.
Just my guess, but for screening the high commission may have requested enhanced due diligence and requested passport copies and proof of residency etc. of the ministers meeting the couple and if they refused to comply I can see why they may have been refused access.
There is reference to cabinet ministers being excluded though. These aren’t just random advisers off the streets. Unless they are implying that the cabinet members of the Pakistani government are security risks, this is a pretty big screw up.
The quote from the PM’s advisor also indicates, to me, that this isn’t just about random guests at the event not being allowed a photo op. “very stupid” and “disgraceful” are pretty strong terms.
Nic politicians are considered PEPs (politically exposed persons)and require an even higher level of screening.
You could say the same about Trump and his gang but they didn’t exclude them did they? Cabinet ministers are high level politicians and form part of the executive. To exclude them as a security risk is insulting. It certainly has not happened to cabinet members from Canada or Australia who are also politicians.
Please re read what I said. I am implying they are refusing those who may have refused to coMply with their compliance request. It is standard operating procedure to hand over these documents under such circumstances.
When the adviser to the PM is criticizing their security requirements we need to wonder what they were looking for. Do Pakistani cabinet members have ties to criminal activity or terrorism? Because what else would exclude them from a photo op?
Ahh. Inference is a heck of a thing. 🙂
Welp they are to be the future Queen and King and they need to make sure their team does a better job. Especially on trips like this as it reflects poorly on them. Regardless of if they knew or not.
This sounds like a bungle on the part of W&K’s team, not a direct snub from the couple themselves.
What is Kate doing, wearing my Christmas tree from last year?!
They both looked good at this event. Will was a good sport donning the Sherwani & Kate in the green, nod to Pak color.
This sounds like the fault of the host/High Commissioner, not W&K’s team.
I am just grateful there’s finally something to gripe about. I know we were all hoping for a good butt shot and some drunken Dad dancing with maybe a bungled speech talking about how happy they are to be in Angola.
At least we got ministers mad about the pecking order .
I wouldn’t be surprised if some political figures WERE deemed a security risk, but it sounds more like these government ministers just had their egos bruised. Seriously, though, as an avid follower of Pakistani politics for decades – the royals needed to prioritise security over every other consideration. Some ministers (e.g. Syed Imran Ali Shah, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad) are dodgy AF.
I would be interested to hear Pakistani readers’ impressions of how Imran Khan is doing as PM. This is the first time in my life that the cycle of dynastic kleptocracy –> military takeover –> kleptocracy has been broken in Pakistan, so I’m keen to hear what people think.