Riotous republic less apology demanding for Royal first tour than braving Commonwealth politics

The fact that the first foreign state visit by King Charles was characterised by an apology was hardly a surprise.

The surprise was that the apology was from France’s president Emmanuel Macron saying he was sorry for the postponement of the visit due to disruptions in his own country most notably in the specially-selected Bordeaux which was once part of England.

The significance of the reverse apology disguised how Palace advisers have at last achieved a firm grip on the royal projection of influence.

These counsellors correctly gauged the folly of King Charles undertaking any inaugural tour of what was until quite recently known as the white Commonwealth meaning Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

In all these countries the governments are arranging their future grip on power around identitarian politics.

Australia for example is now in the throes of adding to the eight parliaments it already has a ninth parliament of new nation members which will have a supra veto over the other eight.

The government of New Zealand meanwhile has only in the past few weeks pulled hesitatingly and tremulously from the brink of introducing the first steps of a condominium rule in which first nationers or those identifying as such take over exclusive swathes of governance.

The significance of the French tour kick off was demonstrated notably by the decision by palace counsellors to resist the temptation of Canada often considered in British diplomacy as the royal home-away-from-home.

Here of course identitarianism is turbo charged. In addition to the first nationers there are the French Canadians who resent Ottawa as much as they do London.

So King Charles at every whistle stop would have had to utter a string of apologies which in Canada’s case would have been duplicated. One to first nationers. The other to the original colonists, the French ones, dispossessed by their British usurpers.

The canaries in this combustible commonwealth coal mine were the Prince and Princess of Wales more commonly known as William and Kate.

Their so recent tour of the Caribbean added up to one long apology.

Its enduring image was of the royal couple standing up in Jamaica in a colonial era Land Rover with on their faces the frozen smiles of public figures who know that the planned and expected acclamation has turned visibly sour.

Continuing to swerve away from the awaiting identitarianism trap awaiting King Charles in New Zealand and Australia will test the resolution of Palace counsellors.

The reason is that the governments in both countries see identitarianism as the key to holding onto power. No single person on the planet presents anything approaching the ability to signal their righteous application of it than King Charles.

He would present the governments of Australia and New Zealand the opportunity to perfect and exhibit their most exquisitely honed set of triangulation strategies.

In this process politicians would praise the apology-demanding first nationers for having the courage and the candour to seek to avenge past hurts along with their demonstration of the government-consecrated values of free speech.

They would meanwhile slyly praise the visible royalists for their devotion to an institution, the royal one.

Then would come from the real pay-off.

At some stage they know someone, perhaps an anguished royalist, would take a swipe at the first nationers and their entourage. This would ignite the desired blue touch paper which would now take over the entire visit. There would be a tsunami of governmental crocodile tears.

Then commentators, barely able to contain themselves, faces a rictus of sorrow, would release their repertoire in which the words far right would be the mildest refrain.

Germany under Hitler would be routinely invoked.

To borrow a German linguistic inflection we find that realpolitik has at last descended on the Palace advisory corps.

It is symbolised by the decision to send on his first state visit King Charles to the paradoxically much more secure anti monarchist France.

They understand that even given the Latin and therefore riotous temperament of republican France, it offers a safer and more predictable and less embarrassing rendezvous for King Charles than anywhere in New Zealand, Australia, or Canada.