Prince William go to to the Caribbean has been met with accusations of being a “colonial tour”.
Prince William Friday mentioned the British royal household would help Bahama’s choices about its future, on the third cease of a Caribbean tour that has been met with protests in a area more and more weighing its future relations with the UK’s monarchy.
Talking at a reception hosted by the Governor Common of The Bahamas in Nassau, William — whose official title is the Duke of Cambridge — famous the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the previous colony’s independence from Britain.
“And with Jamaica celebrating 60 years of independence this yr, and Belize celebrating 40 years of independence final yr, I wish to say this: we help with pleasure and respect your choices about your future,” William mentioned.
“Relationships evolve. Friendship endures.”
Prince William and Kate’s tour was supposed to mark the seventieth anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
But it surely has as a substitute been met with protests and accusations of being a “colonial tour”.
In Jamaica on Tuesday, placard-bearing protesters outdoors the British Excessive Fee forward of the royals’ arrival demanded that the monarchy pay reparations and apologise for its position within the slave commerce that introduced lots of of hundreds of Africans to the island to toil underneath inhumane situations.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness then pointedly advised William in entrance of tv cameras that the nation was “shifting on” as an unbiased nation.
The go to follows rising requires Jamaica to observe Barbados and change into a republic by ditching the queen as head of state.
William throughout that journey expressed his “profound sorrow” concerning the historical past of slavery, calling the follow “abhorrent”.
“It ought to by no means have occurred,” he mentioned.
However thus far, no formal apology has been made by the British royal household.
The go to got here as Britain more and more confronts its colonial previous, particularly its memorials to historic figures with ties to the slave commerce.
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