The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have faced a mixed reaction at the start of their “charm offensive” in the Caribbean.
The royal couple were greeted by a guard of honour from the Belize Defence Force as they landed at Belize City’s airport. The prime minister, Johnny Briceño, told the couple: “We’re so happy you’re here.”
However, Sky News reported, William and Kate cancelled a visit to a cacao farm in the village of Indian Creek on Sunday morning after villagers protested over plans for the couple’s helicopter to land on their football pitch. The village is also involved in a dispute relating to ancestral land with Fauna & Flora International, a conservation group of which Prince William is patron.
On day two, the royals danced with locals and sampled chocolate at a different cacao farm. “They were shaking their waists like nobody’s business,” Laura Cacho, a local festival organiser who danced with William, told the BBC.
There is more controversy on the horizon, said The Independent. A protest calling for slavery reparations is due to take place near the British High Commission in the Jamaican capital of Kingston tomorrow morning.
The tour of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas is marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and is the couple’s first major overseas tour in more than two years due to the pandemic.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City on Saturday to begin their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee
The royals meet Belize’s Prime Minister Johnny Briceño and his wife Rossana. The Cambridges will also visit Jamaica and the Bahamas
William and Kate travel to Hopkins, a small village on the coast of Belize, considered the cultural centre of the Garifuna community
William dances with locals in Hopkins. Organiser Laura Cacho claimed the duke had “beautiful rhythm”, while the Daily Mail called it “proper dad dancing”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge learn about local food in Hopkins
Visiting a local chocolate farm, the Duchess of Cambridge apparently said their children would be “very jealous”
Kate meets one of the younger members of the Garifuna community in Hopkins, which has a reputation for being the “friendliest village in the whole of Belize”, said the Evening Standard
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