The Caribbean tour was to celebrate the Queen’s silver Jubilee,70 years on the throne as the longest serving British monarch and the longest reigning female monarch in the World. Prince William, 39, and Kate, 40, are visiting Jamaica – as well as two other Realms, the Bahamas and Belize where the Queen still reigns as Head of State to mark the celebrations. However, many see this tour as an attempt to drum up support for the monarchy and persuade other nations not to follow Barbados by choosing to become a republic. (In November, Barbados made the move to become a republic, axing the 95-year-old monarchy as losing the Queen as head of state).
The Tour has been affected by protest from the Caribbeans forcing cancellations and re-scheduling.
18th March 2022: The tour was supposed to kick off in Belize village, but the royals were forced to cancel after residents protested against it. Opposition to the royal excursion had arisen from a dispute between residents of Toledo district and Flora and Fauna International (FFI), a conservation charity Prince William is a patron of.
22nd March 2022: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge flew into a political storm in Jamaica on Tuesday as they were met by a protest calling for reparations from the British monarchy. A Jamaican human rights advocate called for an apology from the Duke and Duchess, who she said were benefitting from her ancestors’ “blood, tears and sweat”.
In England I listened to LBC and many Caribbeans in England called in to complain and support the protest going on at home. The main issues they stated for supporting the protest includes-
- The handling of Windrush scandal,
- A lack of progressive British trade partnerships in the commonwealth Countries,
- The treatment of Harry & Meghan.
- The treatment of Caribbeans in this Country,
- An apology for colonialism and reparations.
They cannot see the benefit of the Queen being Head of State of these Islands at this moment. Prince William will address the issues later today
The Editor