Cordial and Contentious: William & Kate’s Caribbean Tour 2022

Cordial and Contentious: William & Kate’s Caribbean Tour 2022

In March 2022 the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge undertook a tour of the Caribbean taking in the nations of Biz Jamaica and the Bahamas Prince William and Katherine’s visit was to Mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee that year celebrating Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne pretty the

British monarch is also the Sovereign of eight Caribbean Nations including the three on William and Kate’s tour until just 5 months previously it had been nine Prince Charles was in Bridgetown to see Barbados transition to a republic in November 2021 with Dame Sandra Mason replacing Queen Elizabeth as the Island’s first president Ser

Barbos Elizabeth saw many of her Caribbean Commonwealth Realms become independent nations in the early Decades of her Reign two years ago when I and my now with the queen in her late 90s and the end of her Reign Drawing Near she had seen the island once dubbed little England cut its last

Constitutional link with the United Kingdom William and Catherine then as the young future king and queen consort with the ideal representatives to visit the region and look forward but a visit that was intended to focus on biodiversity indigenous culture children and health were seen as backward looking and toned deaf and was

Often met with protests over Britain’s Colonial past and the Royal Family’s historic links to slavery touching down in Biz a country of just over 400,000 people and unique within Central America as a predominantly englishspeaking nation and as a commonwealth realm the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had asked that this

Tour of the Caribbean allow them to meet as as many local people as possible helping make chocolate at a small family cacao Farm appeared a positive start but this visit was not part of the official itinerary This Is Our Land this is our property this was the farm that William

And katees Were Meant to see but members of the local Mayan Community were angry that they hadn’t been consulted and an alternative visits had to be hastily arranged there has been a prolonged struggle by the mea to defend their territories in a multiethnic ban Society the dukee and duchess’s visit

Prompted many in the country to ask why 40 years on from becoming independent the British monarch is still the head of state views tend to differ depending on the generation when I was 5 years old my mom used to tell us that when we hear the big Jetter coming that’s for the

Queen that’s what I know well if one day we could become more stable as a country country then it would be okay to become a republic though we are an independent country Nation but we still need help from the outer world and I think having

The queen still is a good thing for us in that capacity it was an altogether happier Affair later in the day William and Kate were treated to a welcome Festival in the Coastal Village of Hopkins the cultural center of the garuna people Kate’s dressed in the colors of the ban

Flag ground some beans and spices and then the couple watched some drumming and dancing only in the Caribbean you’re not expected just to [Applause] [Applause] watch Williams ancestors have rained over B since 1783 on the second full day of their tour the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the impressive and imposing

Caracol an ancient Mayan city which dates back to 1200 BC extraordinarily despite being the tallest man-made structure in bise it was not discovered by Europeans until the 1930s its location in the remote jungle keeping it well hidden William is familiar with the ban jungle his first

Visit was when he was 18 for training with the British Army and took the opportunity on his second trip to bise to meet the current recruits in the evening the Duke and Duchess swapped cargo pants for something a little more formal for the couple’s last official event in Biz the

Governor General’s reception in our short time here Katherine and I have been lucky enough to witness some of the extraordinary biodiversity that you so lovingly nurture here in your jungles and your reefs Katherine and I have been deeply touched by the the warm welcome B lesians have given us we only wish we

Could have stayed longer a longer stay may have been more restful for William and Kate if there were questions over Britain’s past in bise they would be all the louder in Jamaica the gold saltire cross in Jamaica’s flag is to symbolize the sun which usually shines brightly over the island as in Biz Kate choice of dress was a nod to the nation’s colors but it was an ominously overcast day as the Duke and Duchess landed in Kingston just

A few miles away protests were taking place outside the British High commission as people demanded an apology for brison’s role in the slave trade Prince William I hope you feel ashamed in some sense I hope you feel remorse I hope you feel how could my ancestors do this to these people’s

Ancestors the Duke and Duchess William they haven’t done anything to us but they represent they represent a certain kind of history that is unpleasant for our people the queen hasn’t given she hasn’t said anything she just there as the head taking and taking as well as being the Platinum

Jubilee year 2022 was the 60th anniversary of Jamaican independence from Britain William and Kate’s visit therefore was a moment for many Jamaicans to talk about the country’s potential transition from a realm to a republic one of those people was Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew holness there were warm greetings and smiles for the

Couple and the gift of a bottle of rum and then perhaps unexpectedly Mr holus said this next to his Royal guest there are issues here which are as you would know unresolved um but your presence gives an opportunity for those issues to be placed in context put front and center

And to be addressed uh in as best as we can we are moving on and we intend to attain in short order of development goals uh and fulfill our true Ambitions and destined as an independent uh developed prosperous culture you’ve shared in our journey celebrated Royal Milestones with us and

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To win this Majestic prize so what are you waiting for enter our competition now and we could be bringing you to London for a trip fit for royalty both of Jamaica’s main political parties support the transition to a Republic and the government intends for the country to become one by the time of

The next general election in 2025 all of this though seemed a world away as William and Kate arrived in trench toown Kingston’s birthplace of Reggae music and the home of Bob Marley the warmest of welcomes for the royal [Applause] couple and alongside them England International footballer Raheem Sterling returning to

The city of his birth on behalf of his [Applause] charity yes that was Williams setting up a goal for the Winger it was also here however that images of the royal family appeared dated this picture of William and Kate in isolation shows a privileged white couple shaking hands through a fence

Around the football pitch and many people online were Keen to highlight the colonial overtones never mind that Raheem Sterling was alongside them doing the same thing and that most of the walkout took place with no barriers between the couple and the local people the damage

Had been done on the second full day of their tour after meeting the Prime Minister the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were able to meet children and young people as a teaching College I you do of fun play as well you like school I’m and how old are you guys you’re five this is all about how they learn and how they a visit to Spanish Town hospital and then on to the North Coast and Montego Bay to meet meet Armed Forces Personnel at the military

Training center here too there were protests if I do something a million year ago that was wrong it is still wrong in this dispensation why should wrong be right in another dispensation when all of us our people British Monarchy needs to repair the damage that has been done

Over more than 400 years of slavery and colonialism that country became a very dominant economic power by the subjection and the exploitation of us as as descendants of the African slaves messages for William and Kate to ponder on the journey back to Kingston where they attended the governor General’s

Dinner it was on understood before he arrived in Jamaica that William would address the issue of slavery headon and here at King’s house he echoed the words of his father in Barbados 5 months previously from The Darkest Days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery which forever stains our

History the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude I want to express my profound sorrow slavery was abhorrent and it should never have happened acknowledgement and sorrow but not the apology which many had called for and there was For Better or Worse the abiding image of this tour at the

Jamaican Defense Force commissioning parade William and Kate ending their time in Jamaica by standing in a moving Land Rover in front of the troops recreating a scene that Queen Elizabeth had done many times before but set against a region calling for slavery reparations and considering its future separate from the British

Monarchy the sight of an elevated prince in uniform looked like a throwback to colonialism it was reported afterwards that William had raised concerns about the open topped car ride the third and final leg of the royal tour took the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge North to the Bahamas a Karma

Destination for the couple in terms of politics but not when it came to the weather no protests to disturb their first engagement at a primary school in the capital Nassau but torrential rain played Havoc with Kate speech as it jumbled the big screen and forced a change of

Microphone that is why it is so wonderful that after 2 years of almost being away from each other you have recently returned to school and have been reunited with your teachers and friends again this leg of the tour though gave William and Kate more of a chance to

Turn the focus away from themselves and onto the main reason for these tours the people and the local issues seeing the impact and paying their respects to the victims of hurricane Dorian on the Abaco Islands which hit this region 2 and a half years previously meeting the winners of the 2021 Earth

Shop prize at the coral Vita Coral farm and seeing their groundbreaking work in giving New Life to dying coral reefs and visiting a home for vulnerable children on the island of grand bah where the Duke and duchess’s skills as parents and natural rapport with youngsters sha

Through oh I love your T-shirt bear on Stanford major Stanford major a bear do you like Bears you put that one enough yay you push it really hard well done is that for me thank you very much what’s your name did you do this did you draw this

Beautiful at fingerprints as in Biz and Jamaica the Bahamas visit ended with the governor General’s reception William had heard the voices of protest and discontent loud and clear over the previous week and took the opportunity to address those in his final speech of the tour I want to say

This we support with pride and respect your decisions about your future relationships evolve friendship endures it was a speech which might have served better at the start rather than the end of the tour it did however give something of an indication as to what sort of King William might be when his

Time comes there are things that the couple will have wished they’d done differently on this tour or not at all they had asked to meet as many local people as possible in Biz Jamaica and the Bahamas and this was where they were at their most natural and personable

Selves there will not be an end to Royal visits to the Caribbean Prince Edward and Sophie visited the region just a couple of weeks after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge but William and Kate’s experience in the spring of 2022 will have given the family room for much

Reflection on what future tours might look like

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‘Cordial and Contentious: William & Kate’s Caribbean Tour 2022’

In March 2022, the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge undertook a week-long tour of the Caribbean, taking in the nations of Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

All three recognise the British Monarch as their head of state.

Prince William and Catherine were well-received by many local men, women and children for engagements focused on culture, health, education, and the environment.

However, the tour to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee was often met with angry protests in countries which still bear the scars of slavery, and are considering republican futures.

We look back at what went right and what went wrong on a Royal tour many described as “tone deaf”.

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