You may have thought, as I did, that there’d be absolutely nothing of interest in Charles’ current tour of the Caribbean. Or maybe you didn’t realise it was happening - it’s not quite the major cultural event the palace hoped it would be.
Anyhoo, it’s turning into quite the amusing distraction in these difficult times. Charles’ main squeeze Camilla, who you may remember from such hits as Tampongate and leaving the scene after her car collided with another, leaving a woman trapped, is providing much of the hilarity. We can count on Camilla never to concern herself with optics.
Charles and Camilla get caught in a tropical downpour in Antigua & Barbuda. Cancer-stricken Chuck is left standing in the rain, waving his arms, while Camilla heads for cover under seemingly the only umbrella the royal entourage thought to bring. (Link is to video on Twitter.)
I’m not sure what's more embarrassing: the sight of Pa getting drenched while his wife scarpers for cover under an umbrella, or the extraordinary incompetence of the Palace staff whose job it is to organise these things.
The Caribbean in November. The rainy season. Did nobody bother to check the forecast?
We spend half our lives talking about the weather. We discuss it with strangers at bus stops, complain about it over the garden fence and check the forecast before popping to the shops. Weather preparedness is part of our national identity. And yet the Royal Household couldn't manage it for a state visit to Antigua.
This would never have happened to the Real Queen. It feels like no one at the Palace can really be bothered any more. One wonders whether the Palace staff, like most of the country, were thoroughly bored of this tour before it had even started. Perhaps they’d mentally gone home already. Checking the weather and packing a few umbrellas must have seemed an unreasonable demand.
Or perhaps their attention has been occupied by more interesting Private Citizens, awkward associations and the seemingly endless business of managing royal scandals. There's only so much time in the day when you're busy trying to keep awkward stories out of the newspapers and sweeping inconvenient news about the man the internet openly calls Prince Pedrew under the royal carpet.
This little vignette unfolded just after a You Gov poll of people recruited to take online surveys revealed 34% disapproval of Charles. From this niche audience! Amazing. If only You Gov had waited a few days - this comedy turn might have done wonders for Charles’ popularity.