Prince William and Kate Middleton Will Set Off on Caribbean Royal Tour
Prince William and Duchess Kate will embark on a Caribbean tour this weekend.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's eight-day tour will include visits to Belize, the Bahamas, and Jamaica, conducted on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. In addition to marking Will and Kate's first joint official overseas tour since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the visit to Jamaica echos the monarch's first visit to Jamaica when she was a new queen 70 years ago.
The tour will also see the royal couple bring sentiments from the monarch to the people of the Caribbean, per People. A source also told the outlet that the queen will be watching the tour with interest from her home at Windsor Castle.
"These are three countries with which Her Majesty has had an extremely warm relationship following multiple visits throughout her reign," a palace spokeswoman says. "Those trips have helped to provide inspiration for many of the engagements that Their Royal Highnesses will carry out during their tour."
"As well as thanking the people of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas for their support, across this eight-day tour, the Duke and Duchess's program will focus on celebrating the rich cultures that are unique to these three countries," the spokeswoman adds.
The Belize portion of the tour has had a recent schedule change, with the duke and duchess canceling one of their first outings. The pair will skip a planned visit to a cocoa farm in on the foothills of the country's Maya Mountains Sunday, after Indian Creek villagers staged a protest Saturday regarding colonialism and the use of a football field by the royals for landing their helicopter.
"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," the Government of Belize said in a statement to People. Per the outlet, Kensington Palace declined to comment.
After three nights in Belize, the couple will continue to Jamaica, where they will celebrate the "seminal legacy of Bob Marley," per the palace. They will then head to the Bahamas to take part in The Bahamas Platinum Jubilee Sailing Regatta at the Royal Sailing Club in Nassau. The club was close to the heart of the late Prince Philip, who was a Honorary Commodore then Honorary Life Member of the sailing club.
Both Prince William and Duchess Kate will also take time to champion their causes on the trip. On Grand Bahama Island, the couple will meet with Earthshot Prize winner Coral Vita, and see the organization's ground-breaking ideas for restoring and preserving reefs. The visit will be their first time visiting an Earthshot finalist, after the inaugural ceremony last October.
They are also set to visit Jamaica's Shortwood Teacher's College, which conducts research in the field and trains students to become early childhood education practitioners. The visit will mark the second time that Kate has brought the work of her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood abroad, after her visit to Denmark last month.
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