THE WATCH STAFF
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recently completed a Caribbean tour in which the British royal couple visited Belize and Jamaica before a final stop in the Bahamas.
Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, made the trip to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. The tour came as Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica reconsider their relationships with the British monarchy, and after Barbados dropped the queen as its head of state and became a republic, Reuters reported March 27, 2022.
William, second in line to the British throne, acknowledged the changing nature of the Caribbean nation’s ties to his country in a speech March 25 in Nassau, the Bahamian capital.
“We support with pride and respect your decisions about your future,” William said, according to The Associated Press (AP). “Relationships evolve. Friendship endures.”
While in the Bahamas, the royal couple met with members of the Bahamas Red Cross who had dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 before being deployed to help fight COVID-19, according to BBC News. (The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 28 dropped the COVID-19 warning level for travel to the Bahamas to Level 2: Moderate.)
The royal couple also visited Coral Vita, the first commercial land-based coral farm and winner of the inaugural Earthshot Prize, which is awarded by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for contributions to the environment, according to Bahamian newspaper The Tribune. Coral Vita grows resilient coral to be transplanted on dying reefs affected by warming oceans. (Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Coral Vita in Freeport March 26.)
Bahamian Prime minister Philip Davis said that during a March 25 meeting, Prince William lauded the Bahamas for “punching above its weight” as a voice on environmental threats, The Nassau Guardian newspaper reported.
“I did point out to him that most of our debt … is directly related to the consequences of climate change with hurricanes,” Davis told Nassau’s Eyewitness News.
What Prince William heard from Caribbean leaders and citizens on the trip gave him a lot to contemplate, he said in a March 26 statement.
“I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future. In Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon.”
William said that whatever the former colonies choose, he wants to serve them through the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 countries with historical links to Britain. The queen heads the Commonwealth and Prince Charles, William’s father, is her designated successor.
William said he recognized that he may not follow in those footsteps.
“Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what is on my mind,” he said, according to the AP. “What matters to us is the potential the Commonwealth family has to create a better future for the people who form it, and our commitment to serve and support as best we can.”
IMAGE CREDIT: REUTERS