Weibel for the favor of the Caribbean

It should be the big charm offensive: Prince William and his wife, Duchess Kate, are currently visiting the Caribbean. The timing, in the middle of the Queen’s Jubilee year, is no coincidence. Because the crown threatens to increasingly lose its importance in the Commonwealth region.

Just a few months ago, the Caribbean island of Barbados decided to depose the Queen as the formal head of state and to leave the Commonwealth. To stave off a similar desire in the remaining Caribbean territories, the British monarchy is now sending its most popular couple on tour to win back the Caribbean’s favour. But after just a few days, it seems as if the trip would have the opposite effect.

“Prince William, leave our country!”

It all started when we started in Belize. A visit to the indigenous village of Indian Creek was planned as the first stop on the multi-day Caribbean tour. But this visit had to be canceled without further ado. Because while the royal couple was happily received by the governor general and the prime minister, the indigenous residents of the village held an anti-colonial demonstration. “This is no crown country,” was handwritten on protest signs. And: “Prince William, leave our country!”

The reason: Prince William is the patron of the charitable organization Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which is actually dedicated to protecting endangered species. The FFI is currently engaged in a legal dispute with local residents over the use of a piece of land. According to the Daily Mail, the organization wants to assert that the 4,800-hectare piece of land is private property and is not intended for use by the indigenous people. These, in turn, claim that they lost their land and the right to it during colonization.

Ironically, the helicopter of the prince couple should have landed on the disputed piece of land. But Prince William is not welcome as long as he works with the FFI. To prevent the royals from being embarrassed, the visit to a cocoa plantation in Indian Creek was canceled and the Caribbean tour continued.

“Kate and William benefit from our ancestors”

The next setback followed on Tuesday: In Jamaica, too, the royal couple was welcomed with anything but open arms. Right at the beginning of the princely couple’s Caribbean tour, well-known Jamaicans published an open letter in which they rejected the visit of Kate and William and referred to the history of British slavery and colonization.

There is no reason to celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign, as this and that of her predecessors “consolidated the greatest tragedy of human rights”. The authors demand an apology and reparations for the actions of the British monarchy against Jamaica. The letter was published, among other things, in “Independent” published.

Numerous anti-monarchy protesters gathered in front of the British High Commission in Kingston and held up placards with inscriptions such as: “Kings, queens, princes and princesses belong in fairy tales, not in Jamaica!”

In recent years, the movement, which rejects the Queen as head of state, has also grown in Jamaica, not least because historical awareness in the former British colonies has also grown with the global Black Lives Matter protests. For example, Jamaica’s opposition leader, Mark Golding, is actively campaigning for the removal of the Queen as head of state. In the run-up to the royal couple’s visit, Golding stated that he would seek an apology from the monarchy, particularly for its role in shipping people from Africa to the Caribbean.

The protest outside the British High Commission was organized by Opal Adisa, a retired professor and activist. She told Sky News: “I have nothing against Kate and William personally. But they are beneficiaries and are therefore complicit. Because in their position they benefit from the blood, tears and sweat of our ancestors – in contrast to us.” For Adisa, an apology would be a first step.

“The royal family is terrified”

Meanwhile, Kate and William share pictures on social media with legendary Jamaica bobsleigh team and playing soccer with Jamaican-English soccer star Raheem Sterling. The couple, it seems, are downright touting the Caribbean island. This also matches the Duchess’s Jamaican yellow dress upon her arrival in Kingston. There has been no response to the protests so far.

However, experts assume that William will acknowledge slavery and its consequences at a dinner with the governor general – the direct representative of the monarchy in Jamaica.

Still, that might do little to change the fact that the Caribbean tour is seen by many locals as a desperate attempt to win back their favor, as Emily Zobel Marshall, a researcher specializing in Caribbean culture, told «The Guardians» says. “The royal family seems terrified that more English-speaking countries will leave the Commonwealth.” The Queen should rather be concerned about what is best for the Caribbean nations – instead of wrangling with her royal couple for their sympathies.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will head to the final destination of their tour, the Bahamas, on Thursday. This archipelago has also considered breaking away from the Queen in recent years. So it remains questionable whether Kate and Williams Tour can repair the relationship with the critical Commonwealth countries.