Clive Alderton, King Charles’s private secretary who was memorably nicknamed “the wasp” in Prince Harry’s memoir, has been in Australia in recent days, preparing the ground for his master’s forthcoming visit to that country, expected to take place in mid-October this year.
The absence of an Alderton sighting in New Zealand, however, has served as yet more evidence that Charles has now all but cancelled his tour of that country, which was to be bolted on to the Australia trip. A proposed trip to Fiji has also, reportedly, been shelved.
Buckingham Palace has not yet confirmed the cancellation, although even the prime minister of New Zealand came close to conceding the truth of the worst kept secret in diplomacy when he said this weekend that Charles had an “open invitation” to visit the country. Another lawmaker said, “If the royal visit is cancelled, New Zealanders will be typically reasonable about it.”
