Though Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have previously dealt with the brunt of criticism relating to politically-charged activity, it appears that they are not the only British royals to play politics. Kensington Palace, which serves as the office of Prince William and Kate Middleton, raised eyebrows after its official Twitter account retweeted messages from U.S.-based Democratic leaders instead of the United Kingdom’s own prime minister, Boris Johnson.
The Cambridges’ account was posting about the Earthshot Prize, a new initiative that hopes to be the leading competition in finding solutions to help combat climate change. Though many public figures and politicians in the United Kingdom on both sides of the aisle expressed their support for the new project, they were not retweeted onto the account’s feed.
Most notably, Johnson praised the enterprise in a tweet from his personal account, calling it “fantastic.” However, his tweet did not even earn a like from Kensington Palace.
The @EarthshotPrize is a fantastic initiative by @KensingtonRoyal , bringing together some of the brightest minds to find solutions to some of the world’s greatest environmental problems. https://t.co/ack20L5fmn
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 8, 2020
Instead, in what many have considered a bizarre move, Kensington Royal retweeted only two endorsements — one from former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and one from former President Barack Obama.
“Interesting to see that Kensington Palace are retweeting posts by democrats less than a month before the election,” wrote noted photojournalist Jesal Parshotam in a Twitter thread.
One user hypothesized that the account was retweeting public figures who have departed office.
“Perhaps the line is drawn on active politicians from overseas and no acknowledgement of U.K. past/present politicians. Very sensitive,” the person wrote .
However, another person dismissed the idea, claiming that it was nevertheless “divisive.”
“I don’t know. Even so, it looks odd to me. Especially when KP ignored UK’s PM… Taking into account they acknowledged two Democrats, now ignoring him is definitely divisive, IMO,” she replied in two tweets .
Though Obama and Clinton may be retired from office, the two both remain politically engaged and have been vocal in their criticism of President Donald Trump. In fact, Clinton recently earned headlines after warning Biden not to “concede the election under any circumstances,” per Politico .
The duke and duchess’s move seems particularly strange in light of the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have faced extreme condemnation for meddling in politics, despite stepping down as full-time royals. In fact, the backlash has been so strong that one poll suggested that almost 70 percent of Brits wanted the couple to lose their titles due to their actions.
It appears that the Cambridges are now facing similar criticism, with some disgruntled social media users conveying their frustration with the royal family.
“I’ve been a monarchist my whole life but recently I am starting to think we need a debate on the future of this institution and its relevance today,” tweeted one former fan.
