Prince William and Kate face more protests in Bahamas
The royal couple are set to fly into yet another slavery storm in the Bahamas, despite Prince William making a major apology at a lavish dinner.
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Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are expected to fly into yet another slavery storm in the Bahamas as part of their controversial tour of the Caribbean to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The couple’s visit comes after a Bahamas committee called on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to acknowledge the British economy was “built on the backs” of past Bahamians and pay reparations.
In a letter issued by the Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC), the group lashed out at William and Kate’s three-day “extravagant” tour of the country which begins on Thursday.
“Why are we footing the bill for the benefit of a regime whose rise to ‘greatness’ was fuelled by the extinction, enslavement, colonization and degradation of the people of this land? Why are we being made to pay again?,” BNRC wrote.
Speaking to The Independent, the House of Rastafari, an umbrella organisation that represents Rastafarians in the Bahamas, confirmed that it intends to protest and lobby Britain over its enslavement and trafficking of African people.
“Bahamas is still under colonial rule and the Westminster system but we, as Rastas, don’t serve the system or the Queen,” Priest Marcus, of the House of Rastafari in The Bahamas, told The Independent.
“We can never forget slavery or the atrocities done to my people from the royal family.”
“We’re looking forward to an official apology and reparations - many Bahamians feel the same way. 400 years of slavery can’t be forgotten easily just like that; the damage has to be repaired.”
“We will protest,” the priest continued.
“While we know that there’s not much the prince and his wife can do - they can really overstand (Caribbean terminology meaning to comprehensively understand) and see that people aren’t happy.”
“I want the royal couple to report back to the Queen, the reigning monarch, our sentiments on this issue.”
The head of the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress Bahamas branch has penned a letter to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ahead of their visit.
“We don’t just want an apology from the British monarchy; we want action behind it. We want restorative justice,” Most Right Honourable High Priest Rithmond McKinney said.
“The former Prime Minister of Britain, David Cameron, said that we should - as Black people - ‘move on’ from slavery. However, we’re waiting for our true justice and redemption; international repatriation and compensation.”
PRINCE WILLIAM EXPRESSES HIS ‘PROFOUND SORROW’ AT ‘ABHORRENT SLAVERY’ AT JAMAICA DINNER
Jamaica is “moving on” and embracing its destiny as an independent country, its leader told Britain’s Prince William, later calling the Caribbean nation’s switch to a republican model “inevitable”.
Speaking at a press briefing, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Prince William’s three-day visit to the island, which has sparked protests over Britain’s colonial-era role in the slave trade and calls for reparations, offered a chance to address “unresolved” issues.
Hours later, the prince expressed “sorrow” to Jamaicans for Britain’s involvement in slavery at a state dinner in the capital Kingston.
“I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened,” the royal said, calling the transatlantic slave trade an atrocity that “forever stains our history.”
Hundreds of thousands of African slaves were forcibly taken to Jamaica during the British colonial period and made to undertake backbreaking labor on the island’s massive plantations.
While the prince conveyed the “deep affection” his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II has for Jamaica and celebrated its diaspora’s contributions to Britain, Mr Holness said the country’s move to a republican model was only a matter of time.
“It is inevitable that we will move towards becoming a republic in fulfilment of the will of the people of Jamaica and our ambitions of becoming an independent, developed and prosperous country,” he tweeted after the men met on Wednesday local time.
Jamaica is one of 15 countries of which Queen Elizabeth, who recently celebrated her 70th year on the throne, is head of state.
A Jamaican break from the monarchy would follow in the footsteps of fellow Caribbean island Barbados, which four months ago formally declared itself a republic at a November ceremony attended by Prince William’s father, Prince Charles.
Hours after touching down in Jamaica, Prince William and Kate Middleton were met with protesters who denounced the royal visit and called for reparations for slavery and for the Queen to be removed as the country's Head of State.
“Kate and William are beneficiaries, so they are, in fact, complicit because they are positioned to benefit specifically from our ancestors, and we’re not benefiting from our ancestors,” Jamaican human rights activist Opal Adisa said.
BOBSLEIGH, SOCCER AND A POP STAR WELCOME
The Duke and Duchess grinned with delight as they were coaxed into a “Cool Runnings” bobsleigh
The sled was the one used to race in the Winter Olympics in Beijing by the Jamaican team who had practised during lockdown by pushing a Mini Cooper car.
Prince William was astonished at how fast the bobsleigh travelled, saying: “Ninety-five mph? Really?”
Chris Stokes, who competed at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics made famous in movie Cool Runnings, said: “I had the honour of being introduced to the Duke and Duchess. It’s great they came.”
Later, Kate, who wore a dress in the colours of the Jamaican flag, got a pop-star welcome and played the bongos at the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum where reggae star Bob Marley lived and wrote the classic, No Woman No Cry.
Donnette Dowe, manager of Trench Town Culture Yard, told the Jamaica Gleaner that she hoped the royal visit will encourage tourism. Visits to the cultural site have fallen significantly amid the coronavirus pandemic, reports Fox News.
“I’m excited about that, that the prince chose to visit our community,” she told the outlet. Dowe added that the planned visit has also provided short-time employment for some residents.
The couple also joined some young soccer players, including the winners of Jamaica’s Manning Cup, on a local soccer pitch. Marley, who died of cancer in 1981, was a passionate soccer player.
During the visit, Prince William was thrilled to see Leon Bailey, who plays for his favourite Premier League team, Aston Villa. At one point, he showed off his own skills as he took part in a quick game while Kate cheered him on.
Despite the outpouring of support from some locals, the royal tour has been hit with controversy.
Protesters gathered before the royal couple’s arrival wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a pair of shackled Black wrists surrounded by the phrases “Seh Yuh Sorry!” and “Apologise now!”
The protest in front of the British High Commission in Kingston came a couple of days after dozens of prominent leaders in Jamaica publicised a letter demanding that Britain apologise and award its former colony slavery reparations.
They also decried the week-long Central American and Caribbean tour that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on Saturday, which coincides with Jamaica’s 60th independence anniversary and the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.
“Kings, Queens and Princesses and Princes belong in fairytales, NOT in Jamaica!” read one poster held aloft by a young girl who joined the protest.
The royal couple’s trip, which began with a stop in Belize followed by scheduled visits to Jamaica and the Bahamas, was organised at the Queen’s behest as some countries debate cutting ties to the monarchy like Barbados did in November.
Ahead of their trip, Jamaican singer Beenie Man told Good Morning Britain that the UK still controls the Commonwealth of Jamaica.
“It’s all about the Queen, and the Queen serves and the Queen this and that – but what are they doing for Jamaica?” he said.
“They’re not doing anything for us.”
The couple will end the trip in the Bahamas, where they’ll compete in a sailing regatta in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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