The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are facing more unrest on their Caribbean royal tour as they prepare to visit the Bahamas later this week. The couple – who are already aware of protestors in Jamaica calling for the UK to apologise and pay reparations for slavery – are travelling to the Bahamas on Thursday to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee over a three-day trip.
Ahead of their arrival, a Bahamas committee has called on William and Kate to acknowledge that the British economy was "built on the backs" of past Bahamians and to pay reparations.
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The country's national reparations committee has issued a strongly worded document claiming the monarchy has "looted and pillaged our land and our people for centuries, leaving us struggling with under development, left to pick up the pieces".
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The statement read: "We, the members of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC), recognise that the people of the Bahamas have been left holding the bag for much of the cost of this extravagant trip.
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"Why are we footing the bill for the benefit of a regime whose rise to 'greatness' was fuelled by the extinction, enslavement, colonisation, and degradation of the people of this land? Why are we being made to pay again?
"The visit commemorates 70 years since Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne of imperialism – more years than the Bahamas has been a sovereign nation. The BNRC asserts that we as Bahamians must have a clear understanding of what this trip truly means. We are not beholden to the British monarchy in any way and we do not owe them a debt of gratitude for anything – not for our culture, religion, or system of governance.
© Photo: Getty ImagesWilliam and Kate on the first day of their Jamaica visit
"Instead, the monarchy has looted and pillaged our land and our people for centuries, leaving us struggling with under development, left to pick up the pieces."
In 2013, the Bahamas committee was founded to establish the moral, ethical, and legal case for the payment of repatriations by European countries.
This isn't the first time William and Kate have faced anti-monarchy protests on their tour. On Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica, around 100 campaigners gathered outside the High Commissioner's residence following an open letter to the royal couple signed by a coalition of Jamaican politicians, business leaders, doctors and musicians.
The letter stated in part: "We see no reason to celebrate 70 years of the ascension of your grandmother to the British throne because her leadership, and that of her predecessors, has perpetuated the greatest human rights tragedy in the history of humankind."
© Photo: Getty ImagesProtests were staged outside King's House in Kingston
A royal source said William was aware of the protest and the future King is expected to acknowledge the issue of slavery in a speech on Wednesday night during a dinner hosted by the Governor General of Jamaica.
Meanwhile in Belize, the royals had planned to tour a cacao farm in Indian Creek village but were forced to change their itinerary after residents opposed their royal trip.
The Government of Belize confirmed in a statement: "Indian Creek was one of several sites being considered. Due to issues in the village, the Government of Belize activated its contingency planning and another venue has been selected to showcase Maya family entrepreneurship in the cacao industry."
Several issues were reported by local Belize media outlet Channel 7, including a claimed dispute between residents of Indian Creek village and Flora and Fauna International, the conservation charity William supports as patron.
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