IT'S UP TO YOU

DUKE ISSUES STATEMENT TO COMMONWEALTH

- RUSSELL MYER S

• ‘It’s not our job to tell people what to do’
• Tour brought questions on the past and future into focus

PRINCE William yesterday took a historic step forward for the Royal Family in an astonishing statement over the protest-hit Caribbean tour.

The second in line to the throne said his job is “not telling people what to do” and added: “Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in future isn’t what is on my mind.”

The Duke of Cambridge delivered the starkly honest review of his and Kate’s eight-day tour to Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas after a series of PR disasters raised questions over the future of the monarchy’s role in the region.

In the extraordinary soul-searching statement, Wills said he accepted his future will be shaped on how he and wife Kate are perceived around the world, not their royal standing. He said: “This tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and future. In Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon.