Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William launched into a three-day tour of UK cities in a bid to thank NHS staff and everyday Britons for their hard work during the coronavirus pandemic. But despite the royal couple receiving a warm welcoming on their first major outing since the lockdown, some have questioned their decision to travel while many are still being advised to stay put. Vaughn Gething, Welsh Labour’s Minister for Health, told the Today programme: “I’d rather no one was having unnecessary visits.
“People always have views about the monarchy but their visit isn’t an excuse for people to say that they’re confused about what they’re being asked to do.”
Asked whether Kate and William “should still come” to visit Wales despite the criticism, Mr Gething said: “I’m not particularly bothered or interested.
“I don’t think that’s going to be an excuse for people to say, ‘I should behave in a different way and I should act as the harm that’s been seen in front of us is not taking place.’
“We have difficult choices to make and in the next few days about what we’re going to need to do after the Christmas period.”
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left London to the first stop in their tour, Edinburgh, on Sunday evening on the Queen’s Royal Train.
The couple met with NHS staff and members of the Scottish Ambulance Service in Newbridge, where staff have been mourning a colleague who died from Covid-19.
The royal couple, who are known as the Earl and Countess of Strathearn in Scotland, later stopped at the Holy Trinity First School in Berwick-upon-Tweed – the northern-most town in England.
But while royal fans welcomed the Duke and Duchess for their first tour since the lockdown, some locals reported the couple for breaking coronavirus policies.
Social media users have been tagging Police Scotland since the pair arrived suggesting Kate and William are contravening local COVID-19 rules.
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