The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge touched down in Jamaica to continue their Caribbean charm offensive, hours after protests in the country’s capital urged the monarchy to apologise and pay reparations for slavery.
The duke, 39, and the duchess, 40, who was wearing a yellow Roksanda dress, flew in from Belize. They will stay in Jamaica until tomorrow when they fly to the Bahamas, the third and final leg of an eight-day tour to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Last night a royal source said the duke was aware of the protests and was expected to acknowledge the issue of slavery tonight in a speech at a dinner hosted by the country’s governor-general.
The couple tried out a Jamaican bobsleigh during a visit to the birthplace of reggae music, Trench Town, where Bob Marley grew up. They were shown around Marley’s old neighbourhood in Kingston, where he wrote hits such as No Woman No Cry.
The duke and duchess, now wearing a colourful Willow Hilson dress and a bangle by the Jamaican designer Lashawndla Bailey-Miller, climbed into the training sled used by Jamaica’s 2022 Winter Olympics bobsleigh team.
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They discussed the dangers posed by racing at such high speeds but soon switched to more light-hearted topics. William told the crowd that Cool Runnings, which immortalised the 1988 Jamaican team, was one of the royal couple’s favourite films.
During the trip to Trench Town, the royals were met by ecstatic crowds that could be heard chanting “we love you”.
William also played with one of his sporting heroes in a match with local young footballers. Raheem Sterling, the Kingston-born England international, received rapturous applause whenever he touched the ball and there were screams for the duke — and a few laughs when he fluffed a shot.
Inside Trench Town Culture Yard and Museum, they were shown around the courtyard where Marley and his friends learned to play music. The duke, who like his wife enjoys Marley’s music, said: “So much musical history was made here.”
They dropped by a neighbouring courtyard where a group of reggae musicians were singing Rastafarian nyabinghi chants backed by drummers. The duchess was quickly coaxed into trying out a drum, but William took more convincing before joining in on a royal jamming session.
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The couple will meet Andrew Holness, the Jamaican prime minister today, before visiting Flankers near Montego Bay, where the Jamaican Defence Force supports at-risk young men in vulnerable communities.
The protest that took place on their arrival was organised by Advocates Network, a coalition of 100 Jamaican individuals and groups, including activists and equalities organisations.
An open letter states that the group “see no reason to celebrate 70 years of the ascension of your grandmother to the British throne” and claims that the Queen “has done nothing to ... atone for the suffering of our ancestors”.
Video of the protest outside the British High Commission in Kingston showed a small crowd with megaphones and placards calling for the royals to issue a public apology for colonialism and pay slavery reparations. Organisers said that about 350 people had attended. Some held signs reading: “Princesses and princes belong in fairy tales ... not in Jamaica.”
Opal Adisa, a Jamaican human rights advocate who helped organise the demonstration, said: “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 benefitting from our ancestors.
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“The luxury and the lifestyle that they have had and that they continue to have, traipsing all over the world for free with no expense, that is a result of my great, great grandmother and grandfather, their blood and tears and sweat.”
Mark Golding, the opposition leader, intends to tell the duke and duchess directly that many Jamaicans are seeking an apology for the role played by their family, according to local news websites.
The couple have already had to cancel a visit to a farm in Belize after villagers staged a protest over lands lost in the colonial era and a failure to consult them over the visit.
The duke and duchess announced their departure from Belize on Twitter with a video of themselves in scuba diving gear as they explored the second-largest barrier reef in the world.
The couple are seen swimming alongside each other in the clip, in which William says it is “really fantastic to see the underwater environment here in Belize, and what wonderful work they’ve been doing to protect the coral and the fish life”. It is believed their scuba diving trip took place at the weekend.
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On Monday, they visited an iconic ancient Mayan archaeological site in the Chiquibul Forest. They also experienced a crash course version of the survival techniques taught to British soldiers in the Belize jungle. They were shown how to boil water using a plastic bottle dangling over a fire, fashion bamboo to use as a pressure cooker, and make a bamboo spear to trap and kill monkeys and birds to eat.
The Caribbean trip is their first joint official overseas tour since the onset of Covid-19 in 2020.
