Dear Editor,

As someone who follows events in the Pacific region very closely I find it very distressing that an editor of the Cook Islands newspaper dared to publish the cartoon to tarnish the image of a sovereign Pacific state! Considering that the SI successfully hosted the soccer tournament, the FOPA and the royal visit, all within very short time periods, one can only wonder about the mindset of the editor. Through the negative publicity the world knows where the Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands are. The world watches the royal family closely and the paparazzi hounds them. It seems the whole event leading up to the publicity of the cartoon was well engineered as a publicity stunt for the designer. I concur with others that the editor should apologize to the people of the Solomon's to maintain harmony between the Pacific states. It has been thirty years since the last royal visit to the south pacific. How many more years now to the next visit? And if it does will Cook Islands be on the itinerary? The editor may have done more damage to the Cook Islands people than he realized!