Andrew Holness: Jamaica is a very free liberal. The people, uh, are very expressive, and I'm certain that you would have seen the spectrum of expressions yesterday. There are issues here, which are, as you would know, unresolved. 

Erin Vanderhoof: This moment from March may not sound like it on the surface, but it is a very tense exchange. 

Katie Nicholl: Yes. It's uncomfortable for us to listen to, so imagine how the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge must have felt. 

Erin Vanderhoof: The person you're hearing is the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, and he's holding a press conference. The occasion, the future King and Queen consort of England, William and Catherine, are in the island nation for a state visit.

Katie Nicholl: William and Kate had traveled to Jamaica as part of the Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, and I think it's fair to say they received a mixed welcome. Hearing the country's Prime Minister tell them it was time for Jamaica to move on, appeared to have caught them both off guard. And it seemed he had his own agenda, suggesting that this trip was an opportunity for the royals to address unresolved issues, including reparations for slavery and the removal of the Queen as Head of State.

Andrew Holness: But your presence gives an opportunity for those issues to be placed in context, put front and center, and to be addressed as best as we can. What Jamaica is, as you would see, a country that is very proud of our history. Very proud of what we have achieved, and, uh, we are moving on. 

Erin Vanderhoof: To William and Kate's credit, they both have very impressive poker faces. Their neutral smiles remained fixed. 

Katie Nicholl: Yes, they really did, Erin. And I think to a degree, palace media training prepares you for moments like this one, but it apparently prompted some important conversations between William and his staff. In March this year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge boarded their plane emblazoned with ER-2 and flew across the Atlantic Ocean. It marked the start of a much anticipated royal tour of the Caribbean. 

Erin Vanderhoof: In the space of just eight days, we caught a glimpse of exactly what the monarchy is faced with and when it comes to the future of the Commonwealth. Even before they landed, it was clear they were not going to get an enthusiastic welcome. Protest caused them to divert their first set of plans. 

Protester [Archival Audio]: If you land in Fiji at the airstrip, no problem, but not in our community. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Prince William made a speech about the fact that slavery never should have happened, but crucially, he just didn't seem prepared to address the big issue. How do we move forward in an equitable way?

Prince William [Archival Audio]: I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent and it should never have happened. 

Katie Nicholl: Well, maybe he didn't have the answers, but just before they left the Caribbean, William decided to release a statement. An important one in which he hinted he wouldn't be concerned if someone else from another country, possibly another culture, led this diverse organization in the future. It was clear that he was thinking about the Commonwealth and its future and how it might be able to work and succeed in a world that is very different to when his grandmother came to the throne. 

Erin Vanderhoof: That sort of statement would be unimaginable from the Queen. It's a sign that the days of "never complain, never explain" have come to an end. It's a really fraught situation for an heir to the throne, but in his own way, William is trying to face the issues. 

Katie Nicholl: Well, William addressed these issues head on. He and Kate didn't manage to avoid some rather awkward photo opportunities that seem to fuel this discourse of white supremacy. The royals visiting the former colonies. That image of William and Kate shaking the hands of Jamaican children through a fence, it was cropped, it wasn't the full picture, but the optics were terrible. This trip was a PR disaster. And of all the tours that I've done with the Cambridges, which of have included new Zealand, Australia, Canada, all Commonwealth countries, they've always received a really warm welcome. So what's going on here? Well, we've had the fallout from Windrush, we've had Black Lives Matter, and inevitably this is all impacted on Britain and the royal family. And particularly how the royal family is perceived in the Commonwealth. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Exactly, but if we look all the way back to the sixties, when the Queen and Prince Philip went on their month long tour of the Caribbean, there was a very different reception.

Reporter [Archival Audio]: As the royal visitors drove through the streets of Georgetown with the public buildings, the people of Ghana added their own rousing greetings. After receiving an official welcome, the Queen and Prince Philip unveiled porter to themselves in the chamber of the legislature. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Katie, do you think that nowadays the era for grandiose royal tours is over?

Katie Nicholl: I dunno if it's over, Erin, but it might be time to do things differently. I think the Cambridge's toured the Caribbean, and then Sophie and Edward who postponed part of their tour just shows how sensitive the situation is, and I think for many decades there has been a tried and tested format for these royal tours. You know what I'm talking about. The tree planting, the unveiling of plaques, but I think there's a sense that the whole thing just needs a little bit of a revival. You know, William and Kate got a mixed response while they were out there in the Caribbean. There were protests, we know, but also a lot of people turned up to cheer them on and to support them. So, I think the success of these tours and the future of these tours depends on the royals making a genuine connection with the people and the countries. That's crucial. 

Erin Vanderhoof: This time, William and Kate didn't come away from the Caribbean with a PR treasure chest of charming photos and successful meet and greets. In fact, there are more questions than ever about the civic roles the royals play. It's most stark around the Commonwealth countries, but similar conversations are happening within Britain as well. But if it were Meghan and Harry in their shoes, would they have been received in the same way? In fact, was the other royal couple a catalyst for William and Kate's reckoning?

Andrew Holness: When you bring into focus the more recent incident, the alleged racism, within the royal family, I think that people were appalled quite frankly. 

Katie Nicholl: In this episode, we'll look at the Commonwealth and the role the royals play in it and what the future might look like for this family of nations. 

Erin Vanderhoof: We'll hear from Princess Diana's Private Secretary, Patrick Jephson, on what the public expects from the royals, political journalist, Peter Wickham, on how difficult it is for the monarchy to break from accusations of historical racism.

Katie Nicholl: And journalist, Afua Hagan, on how the Queen is perceived around the world. I'm Katie Nicholl. 

Erin Vanderhoof: And I'm Erin Vanderhoof. From _Vanity Fair,_ this is _Dynasty: the Windsors._ 

Andrew Holness: Episode six, "Imperial Guilt: The Royals Reckon With the Commonwealth's Colonial Past."

Erin Vanderhoof: All right, lay it out for me here, this is a complex topic for everyone. What is the Commonwealth? 

Katie Nicholl: Well on the face of it, it's fairly simple. It's a voluntary organization of 54 nations that took its current shape in 1949 under the Queen's father, King George VI. Symbolically, the head of it all today stands the Queen, and it's already been decided that Charles will succeed her as the next Head of the Commonwealth. Now, these countries all share the same values: democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. And they meet every two years at CHOGM, that's the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting to discuss collective policies and initiatives. Technically, it should be one big happy family.

Erin Vanderhoof: And of course I have heard of the massive sports competition every four years, the Commonwealth games.

Katie Nicholl: Yes, it's a much loved competition, but delving deeper, the Commonwealth has its roots in the British Empire. It evolved from when Britain controlled roughly a quarter of the world, but despite the dissolution of the Empire, which started back in the forties, 15 of the 54 nations in the Commonwealth still count the Queen as their Head of State. And for many in some of these countries, the royals remain popular and this is generations after independence. 

Afua Hagan: My interest in the royals is definitely stemmed from my mom who I can quite fondly say that she's obsessed with the royal family. And I think, I also think that's a very Ghanaian thing. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Journalist Afua Hagan grew up in Scotland with Ghanaian parents. In 1957, Ghana declared its independence from the British Empire. 

Afua Hagan: Ghanaian people have always kind of had this real love affair with the royal family, with the Queen. Often Ghanaian families would have like pictures of the Queen up in their house. Like it's that deep, you know? One of the times in my life I remember most vividly when I was a teenager was when Princess Diana died. My mum literally, literally went into mourning. Like she wore black for like two weeks. She wouldn't go to work. I was like, hold on. I mean, cause like were you related to Princess Diana? And, and I'm just finding out? Oh no, you just love her that much. Like that's how deep it was. Even still now, Ghanaian people love the royal family. And I think it is quite a specific West African thing. 

Katie Nicholl: So the feelings towards the royal family aren't the same throughout the countries of the Commonwealth. Jamaica might be moving on, but as we heard from Afua, feelings can be very different in Ghana. 

Erin Vanderhoof: It has a lot to do with the circumstances around independence. Australia, for example, had incorporated aspects of the British government into their federal system and wanted to keep a close connection to the country. Some experience independence as the beginning of rising living standards and a tradition of democracy. For others, independence was the beginning of years of conflict and struggle. 

Afua Hagan: It's so interesting. The perspective on the royal family from a kind of West African post-colonialism, post-Empire point of view, I think the, the interest in the royal family is, is, is quite different from a British interest. And we sort of see them differently. So they're just up there, they're in a completely different class of everybody else, and we love them and they can do no wrong. And the Queen is, you know, the pinnacle of British society and she's incredible, and you know, we love her. And even though, you know, we're not a country that's ruled by the Queen anymore, you still have that kind of love for her, which I've always kind of, it's a dichotomy to me because we wanted independence. We almost went to war for it, but we still regale the royal family. It's almost like, you know, they're our distant cousins and we still love them from afar, but you don't rule us anymore. You know, we still love you guys, but thanks for not having us in chains. 

Erin Vanderhoof: In this year's annual Commonwealth Day message, the Queen referred to the group as "a family of nations." And the thing is, British identity is wrapped up in this complicated family. If you're just looking at the surface level, things like tea and chicken tikka masala are staples of British consumption. Though they have cultural roots in former colonies. But on a deeper level, due in part to immigration, the close connection with the Commonwealth explains why Britain is such a multicultural society today.

Katie Nicholl: And this is one of the reasons the Queen has made upholding the Commonwealth one of her top priorities. It's personal because her father was instrumental in its development, but it's always been important to her. And she's rightfully very proud of all the Commonwealth has achieved. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Right, and she knew how important it was going to be right from its early days. Even before she ascended to the throne. In 1947, on her 21st birthday, she gave a speech dedicating her life in service of the CommonWell. 

Queen Elizabeth II [Archival Audio]: My whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong. 

Katie Nicholl: The Queen gave this speech just a few years after she'd served in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service in World War II. Now for the Queen, public and voluntary service is one of the most important elements of her work. She transformed the civic role of the royals around the Commonwealth, but also within Britain. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Throughout her reign her schedule has included small-scale visits to organizations and her patronages to connect with citizens and see charity in action. But it was actually on a 1970 royal tour to Australia that she started walkabouts, which replace a grand procession with an opportunity to chat with people on the streets. 

Katie Nicholl: Yes, it was the birth of the mantra that we know her by today, "I have to be seen to be believed." And this idea breathed new life into foreign visits and eventually was adapted back at home because it was such a success. And today, it's the backbone of royal work. 

Prince William [Archival Audio]: Some of my earliest memories are times my parents spoke to me, or even better showed me, what it meant to have both privilege and responsibilities. 

Katie Nicholl: Here's Prince William giving the keynote at an annual meeting of the UK Government's Charity Commission back in 2018. 

Prince William [Archival Audio]: I remember being taken by the mother to a homelessness shelter at a young age. Her explaining to me why the people I met in there matter and why no society can be healthy unless we take other people seriously. From my father, I learned how central this was to his life and his sense of purpose. The Prince's Trust is not an arm's length organization for my father. He cares deeply about Prince's Trust because it is a living projection of his values. 

Katie Nicholl: He goes on to describe how he sees charity and philanthropy as essential to his role as a royal. 

Prince William [Archival Audio]: Without my realizing it, what my parents were doing was instilling in me, and Harry, our lifelong habits to put charity at the heart of our lives. 

Erin Vanderhoof: It's evident that both William and Harry have taken these lessons really seriously and made service a huge part of their life. In 2009 the two of them established the Royal Foundation to support their philanthropic efforts. Harry has made injured veterans and mental health keystone issues of his career, and William has tackled issues like the environment and conservation efforts. 

Katie Nicholl: Kate joined the foundation after her marriage to William, and she thought long and hard about the role she wanted to play. As a patron for different charities she's made a commitment to hospices and palliative care for young people. And she's been very focused on the issues affecting youth like addiction and mental health. Now, of course, we know she's heavily focused on her earliest campaign. What we're seeing is this new generation of royals doing charity differently. William and Harry took their lead from their parents and their grandparents, but they created their own model. So rather than take on hundreds of patronages and charities, they've made a point of not spreading themselves too thin and consolidating their efforts. And in doing so, they've been able to make a real impact. Just look at the success of their Heads Together campaign. Mental health awareness is now a national issue, in part, down to them.

Erin Vanderhoof: But, when Meghan came onto the scene, she already had the experience to bring some of her own ideas to the table.

It's February 28th, 2018 in London. Just a month after Prince William's address. The fab four are geared up for their first official joint appearance. They're speaking at a forum for the Royal Foundation. On this day, it's the organization's first forum with Meghan joining as Harry's fiance. They walk on stage and take their seats in a row under the words 'making a difference together.'

Kate Middleton [Archival Audio]: I just think being able to sort of come together to find some sort of common ground and be able to sort of, um, draw ideas together and find a way forward, I think it was really, really exciting. 

Prince Harry [Archival Audio]: We pride ourselves on going into a situation, convening people, and listening. But it's really, I think it's really good that we've got four, four different personalities and, you know, we've all got that same, that same passion to want to make a difference. But, you know, different opinions. And I think those opinions work really, really well. 

Meghan Markle [Archival Audio]: Changing mindsets and all of that is part of this communication that we have constantly. 

Prince William [Archival Audio]: But, I think what we can bring as the Royal Foundation is that convening effort, and I think if you put some of the big foundations in the world together, along with our convening power, the Royal Foundation, and if we focus on certain big issues, hopefully global, I think we can make a really big difference. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Onstage that evening however, we get a glimpse that not all is as it seems. The first signs of a royal rift. 

Reporter [Archival Audio]: I have to ask you, all the work you do together is great, but working together as family, do you ever have disagreements about things? 

Prince William [Archival Audio]: Oh yes. 

Prince Harry [Archival Audio]: Healthy disagreements.

Reporter [Archival Audio]: The last thing you disagreed on, how did you resolve it? 

Prince Harry [Archival Audio]: Um, I can't remember. They come so thick and fast, but it's... 

Prince William [Archival Audio]: Is it resolved? We don't know.

Reporter [Archival Audio]: Well, you're putting on a great show if it's not.

Katie Nicholl: In hindsight, you look back at that moment and of course, knowing what we know now, you really can see that there is this awkward dynamic between them. I remember being told that that moment at the foundation was a real wake-up call for William and Kate. It was very clear that Meghan knew her stuff and she had big ideas. And I think William and Kate were probably protective of their foundation and they had their own vision. Listening to that clip again, it's so telling, Erin, I think, that they don't bat away the suggestion that they don't always see eye to eye. 

Erin Vanderhoof: The thick and fast comment is an example of Harry sense of humor, which is sort of like an anti-sense of humor. The joke is funny because it's true. But William's issues with Meghan seemed to go beyond his conflicts with his younger brother and Meghan's charismatic approach. This didn't come out until Robert Lacey reported it later in 2020. According to Lacey, William thought Meghan's political causes were too trendy and disharmonious as exemplified by that 2019 issue of _British Vogue_ she edited. It didn't go with his vision of what the monarchy should be. When William mentioned this to Harry, it apparently caused a really bad argument. 

Katie Nicholl: Well, I think for William, some of Meghan's causes might have feared too close to politics, but she was never going to stop speaking out about the things that matter to her. Let's remember that we're dealing with someone who's been speaking against sexism on the news since she was 11 years old. Meghan has said that women have a voice, they need to be empowered, and she's going to use her voice. And we heard it from the very beginning when she said she wanted to hit the ground running, which is exactly what she did. 

Prince Harry [Archival Audio]: Working as, as family does have its challenges. Of course, it does. Everybody here- the fact that everyone's laughing means that everybody knows exactly what it's like. But, um, we're stuck together for the rest of our lives, so... 

Katie Nicholl: But they didn't stick together. Harry and Meghan quit their roles and left, triggering a major crisis for the crown. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Still to come on _Vanity Fair's Dynasty_.

Peter Wickham: It's a spot that you would have a situation where, I'm a Barbadian. I lived here all my life. I could never become Head of State and, you know, Prince George will. And I think that that's where the conversation started to appeal to many of us that are in that community and say, look, we need to start thinking about this thing.

Erin Vanderhoof: We'll take a look at how the fab four's version of The Royal Foundation fell apart and the challenges for the royals that lie ahead.

From the very beginning, there was a subtle conflict on display with William and Kate on one side and Meghan and Harry on the other. Should the royals stay completely neutral on the major issues or are some things just too important to ignore? Do we lead from behind or do we innovate and follow trends? Do we go with tradition or do we expand and try something new? But as any historian can tell you, this struggle is as old as the Windsor's themselves. During the last few decades of the 20th century, this debate revolved around one woman, Princess Diana. As she became more confident on the world stage, she oversaw a rebirth of royal charity as a way to attract eyeballs, even if it meant breaking a little protocol.

Katie Nicholl: Well, Diana was the master of pushing those royal protocols and tearing up the royal rule book. She recognized how important charity was to the royal family, but she thought outside the box and developed a new way for the royals to do charity. 

Patrick Jephson: We think we know these royal people through their work, through the causes they associate with. It doesn't necessarily tell us much about their personalities.

Katie Nicholl: Patrick Jephson was Diana's Private Secretary for nearly eight years. He was by her side as she navigated the demands of her new role.

Patrick Jephson: But it does tell us about how they see their side of the contract. And the contract between royal people and the public is that the royal people can expect to live in palaces, ride in coaches, and be called Your Royal Highness if they fulfill public expectations of service and sacrifice. Where there is a mismatch between the privilege and the sacrifice, then the royal people are in trouble. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Princess Diana often used her public profile in the service of others to raise awareness for causes that were really important to her. She seemed to believe in service even outside of its value to the crown. She was president or patron of organizations that actually mattered to her. 

Patrick Jephson: And she saw her potential, or her role increasingly, as drawing attention to causes with which she felt sympathy. Sympathy in the sense that she could identify with people who, for example, were excluded. She felt she had been excluded from the royal mainstream. She felt she had been rejected by the royal family. That gave her a natural affinity with people who were marginalized or stigmatized. That's why she was drawn towards causes gritty, uh, controversial causes like HIV / AIDS, like leprosy, homelessness, addiction, mental health, domestic violence. These are not traditional royal areas for charity work. Diana made these her own.

Reporter [Archival Audio]: Harlem Hospital stands in the middle of one of the most dangerous areas of New York, plagued by violence, drugs, and poverty. No president, few leading political figures come here, so the personal decision by the Princess to visit a children's AIDS ward was warmly welcomed.

Katie Nicholl: When Diana started doing charity the way she did, with physical contact, with emotion and real feeling, it was revolutionary. But not everyone in the royal family approved. The Queen apparently struggled to understand why Diana wanted to do the sort of work she was doing with people with AIDS and leprosy, but Diana felt it was her role to help the most marginalized people in society.

Erin Vanderhoof: I think that says a lot about why Diana remained so popular. She made something really impressive out of bad circumstances. And she used her platform to do something way beyond the expectations of a princess. I think Meghan and Harry tried to use the privilege of being a part of the monarchy to launch something way bigger. They took a page from Diana's playbook and bucked royal tradition when it meant that they could do something good for the world. So let's go back to what, in hindsight, was the high watermark of their experiment in being global royal rockstars: the 2019 tour of Southern Africa. 

Prince Harry [Archival Audio]: It was incredibly important for my wife and I to begin our trip to South Africa here with all of you, so thank you for having us.

Erin Vanderhoof: Katie, you were there in South Africa in September 2019, what was it like? 

Katie Nicholl: Well, we kicked off the tour in a township in South Africa. I remember watching Harry and Meghan meditate on the beach with some surfers and of course they introduced, the then four month old Archie, to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. So it was different, Erin, and certainly not what I've come to expect of a royal tour. It felt fresh, it felt different. And it was brilliant. 

Erin Vanderhoof: And then of course there was that very memorable speech. 

Meghan Markle [Archival Audio]: While I'm here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color, and as your sister.

Katie Nicholl: That was a wow moment. The applause Meghan got said it all, and you could just see what an impact she was having. Here's political journalist Peter Wickham. 

Peter Wickham: When Markle presented herself as a black member of the royal family, and everyone thought finally, there's diversity coming to Buckingham Palace. And I frankly thought that the Queen would have been elated to be able to say, you know, there's finally some black people in this family.

Katie Nicholl: The Queen was thrilled to welcome Meghan into her family. And I think she saw her potential from the outset. Meghan had attended Harry's Invictus Games when she was still a royal girlfriend, and I think the Queen saw that she was a grafter. When it came to the Commonwealth, the Queen recognized how successful Harry and Meghan could be, and she made them President and Vice President of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust. These were really prized roles, and in October 2018, they set off a tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand, which was very well received. In this great family of nations, the Commonwealth, Meghan was a real asset. 

Erin Vanderhoof: But with a flip of a switch, things changed. After 10 days of headlines in Africa that were PR gold for the royal family, Meghan did an interview with ITV News Journalist, Tom Bradby. 

Tom Bradby [Archival Audio]: So the one area, one has to tiptoe into very gently, but I don't know what the impact on your physical and mental health of all the pressure that you clearly feel under. 

Meghan Markle [Archival Audio]: Um, I would say... look, any woman when they're, especially when they're pregnant, you're really vulnerable. And especially as a woman, it's really, it's a lot. So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed, it's um... yeah well, I guess, and also thank you for asking. Because not many people have asked if I'm okay. But it's, uh, it's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes. 

Tom Bradby [Archival Audio]: And the answer is, would it be fair to say not really, okay? As in it's really been a struggle? 

Meghan Markle [Archival Audio]: Yes. 

Katie Nicholl: It was the first big interview that Harry and Meghan had given since their wedding and it was very enlightening. 

Erin Vanderhoof: We had all spent months reading a ticker tape of complaints about Meghan and the press, yet every time she appeared in public, she had this ease and comfort about her like she could just skate above it. This was the first time that I realized that even her natural sparkle couldn't overcome a situation that would make anybody feel like garbage. Saying she wasn't okay was her admitting that she had been acting and that it was affecting her mental health. 

Katie Nicholl: Well, it was quite unorthodox given the Queen's mantra is never complain, never explain. Probably the most hard hitting words were from Meghan who said it wasn't enough to survive, you have to thrive too. 

Erin Vanderhoof: And she wouldn't talk specifically about experiencing racism until much later in the Oprah interview. But for me at least, this moment was her first true expression of what it was like to be a black woman and what we might call the whitest family in the world and her review of the experience was negative. I think this is part of the risk that the palace didn't know how to evaluate. People are going to look at what you do and not what you say. If you have one biracial person ever in your family, and that person has a truly horrible experience and they leave, it reflects poorly on the status of people of color in your family.

Katie Nicholl: Well, perhaps William could see what was lying ahead, but I was told by one of my sources that he saw this as a crisis moment and he picked up the phone to Harry. But it was too little too late. Harry and Meghan were already planning their exit from the royal family, and by 2021, those prized Commonwealth roles would be gone. 

Erin Vanderhoof: In the years since Harry and Meghan left for California, the future of the Commonwealth got rockier than anyone could have anticipated.

Reporter [Archival Audio]: Barbados efficiently removes the Queen as Head of State to becoming the world's newest Republic. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Yes, in November of last year, Barbados became the world's newest Republic. It remains in the Commonwealth, but now Dame Sandra Mason is President and Head of State. 

Peter Wickham: It's a spot that you would have a situation where, I'm a Barbadian, I lived here all my life. I could never become Head of State and, you know, Prince George will. And I think that that's where the conversation started to appeal to many of us that are in that community and say, look, we need to start thinking about this thing. 

Katie Nicholl: Peter Wickham again.

Peter Wickham: We need to start constructing our own institutions in our own way, but then when you bring into focus the more recent incident, you know, the, the alleged racism within the royal family, I think that people were appalled quite frankly. But appalled at a level where there's not a whole lot of surprise because if you think about it long enough, that there's good reason to believe that the institution is, is stuck in an age of his past and the racism is all part of that. When we start to construct our own consciousness, though, we're able to start to build a reflection of who we are and what we see ourselves as. It has to start, so one important question, which is, can I become a Head of State of Barbados and know the answer is yes. 

Erin Vanderhoof: And after the union flag was lowered, the Queen was no longer the Head of State and a new national figure was announced. 

Andrew Holness: On behalf of a grateful nation, but then even prouder people, we therefore present to you, the designee for national hero of Barbados, Ambassador Robyn Rihanna Fenty. May you continue to shine like a diamond.

Erin Vanderhoof: Rihanna has had such a huge impact on the world, but she's also a symbol of how Caribbean culture, music, and food has taken off in America too. Barbados declared political independence in 1966, but elevating their homegrown heroes as a way of saying they have cultural independence too. 

Katie Nicholl: And in addition to Rihanna, there was another guest of honor, Prince Charles. He delivered something of a farewell speech to Barbados and he did something quite unique for a member of the royal family. He didn't mince his words about Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Reporter [Archival Audio]: Prince Charles in a speech in the Capitol Bridgetown to mark the occasion, acknowledged that British history had forever been a stain of atrocity and slavery. Barbados is regarded as the birthplace in the 17th century of British slaving society in the Caribbean. The country will remain in the Commonwealth. 

Prince Charles [Archival Audio]: From darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history. The people of this island forge their path with extraordinary fortitude.

Erin Vanderhoof: I think it was important that Charles emphasize the strength of Barbados's current citizens, along with their connections to their ancestors. He acknowledged their history and their autonomy. It's not about treating the past like it never happened, but about giving Barbados credit for establishing a robust country in spite of the way slavery made that a nearly impossible task for them. 

Katie Nicholl: Well you could see it wasn't easy seeing his mother officially removed as Head of State, but Charles was humble and his speech hit all the right notes. But it clearly wasn't enough. And as we see in Jamaica, other countries are following Barbados's lead to become republics. 

Erin Vanderhoof: I think the Sussex's leaving made this even more difficult for the Windsors. Meghan has an authority on these matters that she built through experience and hard work. And Harry, and more particularly Meghan, left a power vacuum in their absence when it comes to who will take the lead on embracing the Commonwealth. 

Peter Wickham: I think that the marketing of the institution as a modern institution could certainly be helped a lot. If she, if she had remained. 

Erin Vanderhoof: Here's Peter with him again. 

Peter Wickham: And if they had remained active royals, um, if their child had been part of that family, I think diversity sells. You know, it works well and they've missed a, an amazing market and opportunity. But how much of this is down to modernization and how much has just been forged by the family itself. And in the future, can the royals hang on to the Commonwealth?

Katie Nicholl: Well, Erin, Charles, isn't going to want the Commonwealth to die out with his reign, and we've already had a hint about how William sees things moving forwards in the future, but the challenge is going to be how to make it work and how to keep everyone happy. Charles, we know, will succeed his mother as the next Head of the Commonwealth, but will he be as brevard and as little as the queen. 

Peter Wickham: After the Monarch closes her eyes, the unfortunate thing is that those coming after her have moral imperfections, which I think that you will be less inclined to tolerate. And the good thing with Queen Elizabeth is that she presented this a unrealistic picture of morality, which is not reflected in many of her, her children. And certainly not her grandchildren. 

Katie Nicholl: In the next episode, we'll look at the royal's relationship with the press. Are the tabloids, a necessary evil, and who holds the power in this complicated relationship, the Windsor's or fleet street? 

Laura Clancy: The monarchy needs the media more than the media needs the monarchy. The monarchy knows they need to be seen, right? In order to be understood and in order to be accepted. 

Shon Faye: So it relies on the media to maintain it, and they have to perform adequately for the media and in return for their privilege and in ways that is very, very harmful sometimes I think to the individuals inside the royal family. 

Erin Vanderhoof: All that on the next episode of _Dynasty: the Windsor's_. _Dynasty_ is hosted by Katie Nicholl and me, Erin Vanderhoof, and is produced by _Vanity Fair_ in partnership with Somethin' Else. Lizzie Jacobs is our executive producer, Darby Dorras and Bryant Urstadt are our editors. Rob Dozier, Zoe Edwards, Cheeka Eyers and Sylvie Lubow are our producers. 

Katie Nicholl: Ginny Bloom is our showrunner. Basak Erten and Jessica Jones are our associate producers, and Ike Egbetola, Lily Hambley, and Peyton Hayes are our production coordinators.

Erin Vanderhoof: This episode was engineered by Josh Gibbs and the theme song was composed by Woolly Music. Fact checking was done by Sara Krolewski. _Dynasty_ was conceived by _Vanity Fair_ Executive Editor, Claire Howorth. Claire and Katey Rich are our staff editorial consultants. Thank you to our guests, Patrick Jephson, Peter Wickham, and Afua Hagan.

Katie Nicholl: If you love the show, be sure to rate, review, and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more _Dynasty_ visit vf.com/dynasty and you can follow _Vanity Fair_ on Instagram and Twitter @vanityfair.