(CNN)Prince William has condemned slavery as “abhorrent” and said “it should never have happened” in a speech in Jamaica on Wednesday night.
Speaking at a dinner hosted by the country’s Governor General, the Duke of Cambridge echoed remarks made by his father Prince Charles in November denouncing slavery but stopped short of apologizing for his family’s historic role in the slave trade.
“I strongly agree with my father, the Prince of Wales, who said in Barbados last year that the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history,” William said.
“I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened,” he continued.
“While the pain runs deep, Jamaica continues to forge its future with determination, courage and fortitude. The strength and shared sense of purpose of the Jamaican people, represented in your flag and motto, celebrate an invincible spirit.”
Prince William and his wife Kate are on a week-long tour of the Caribbean, visiting Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas for a series of engagements to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee year, marking 70 years on the throne.
The duke’s remarks came a day after a small group of anti-monarchy protesters gathered in the Jamaican capital of Kingston to demand an apology from Britain.
Some chanted “Apology now, reparations now” while others carried posters and placards reading “Apologise” and “Let’s get current. Let’s get rid of the rule of the Queen.”
A royal engagement on Saturday in Belize was also canceled amid reported opposition from local residents.
Britain and Jamaica’s relationship stretches back centuries. The island was seized by the British in 1655 and remained under its rule until it gained independence in 1962 but has stayed a Commonwealth realm with the Queen as head of state. The majority of Jamaicans are of African ancestry and are the descendents of slaves trafficked to the country by European colonists.
Jamaica will mark 60 years of independence from Britain in August this year but there are some in the country who are hoping to seize on the moment to transition to a republic.
On Wednesday, William and Kate met with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness before visiting a school, a hospital and a project helping at-risk young men, ahead of the dinner hosted by the Governor General.
In what appeared to be a tense meeting, Holness told the couple Jamaica is “moving on” and will attain its “true ambition” to be “independent.”
“Jamaica is as you would see a country that is very proud of its history, very proud of what we have achieved and we are moving on, and we intend to attain in short order and fulfil our true ambition as an independent, developed, prosperous country,” Holness said.
“There are issues here which are, as you would know, unresolved. But your presence gives an opportunity for those issues to be placed in context, put front and center, and to be addressed as best as we can,” the prime minister added.
Growing republic debate
At the protest on Tuesday, human rights activist Kay Osborne told Reuters: “It is an insult to use for these young people (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) to be here to try to persuade us to keep the status quo in place when our goal is to loosen and remove the hands, the gloved hands of the Queen from around our necks so that we can breathe.”
Meanwhile, former senator of Jamaica Imani Duncan-Price told the news agency she was participating in the protest “because we began our independence economically weak after having been pillaged by the monarchy; who today live on the benefits of that wealth.”
“Sixty years of independence, we have not forgotten and we demand an apology and reparations,” an unidentified woman told protesters through a megaphone, according to video from Reuters.
Debate over whether the country should sever its ties with London has grown in the past year since its regional neighbor Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and replaced her with its first-ever President, Sandra Mason.
On Sunday, two days before the Cambridges’ arrival in Jamaica, a coalition of 100 prominent Jamaican individuals and organizations signed an open letter addressed to the couple, urging them to take accountability and “begin a process of reparatory justice.”
“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, have perpetuated the greatest human rights tragedy in the history of humankind,” part of the letter read.
“Her ascension to the throne, in February 1952, took place 14 years after the 1938 labour uprisings against inhumane working/living conditions and treatment of workers; painful legacies of plantation slavery, which persist today,” it continued.
“During her 70 years on the throne, your grandmother has done nothing to redress and atone for the suffering of our ancestors that took place during her reign and/or during the entire period of British trafficking of Africans, enslavement, indentureship and colonialization.”
Belize engagement canceled
William’s father, Prince Charles, acknowledged the “appalling atrocity of slavery” when he visited Barbados as it transitioned from realm to republic last November, 55 years to the day after Barbados declared independence from Britain.
“From the darkest days of our past, and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude. Emancipation, self-government and Independence were your way-points. Freedom, justice and self-determination have been your guides,” he said.
Demonstrations over royal tours are not uncommon and this trip has been no exception.
Things appeared to get off to a rocky start when organizers had to cut an engagement in Belize on Saturday, the first full day of William and Kate’s tour.
The pair were supposed to visit the Akte ‘il Ha cacao farm in the foothills of the Maya Mountains but the stop was canceled Friday reportedly over opposition from residents in Indian Creek village. An engagement at a similar producer was scheduled later.
Ahead of the trip, Kensington Palace said in a statement that the Duke and Duchess were “very much looking forward” to their tour of the Caribbean and “the opportunity to thank communities across Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas for the support they have shown Her Majesty throughout her seventy-year reign.”
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The REPUBLIC OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA will be next. The people want it so, and PM Gaston can lead us into it. It must be a part of the next ABLP manifesto. The time has come. Antigua and Barbuda should officially become a REPUBLIC on the very day the current Queen dies, bring an era to an end.
so scripted. Where is his “Master of the Second Veil” hand symbol? no photo is complete without that. Harry does it all the time in public.
Action speaks louder than words.
Sеlf-Improvеmеnt аnd succеss gо hаnd in hand. Taking thе stеps to mаkе уоursеlf а bеttеr and mоre well-roundеd individuаl will prove to be a wise dеcision.
No reason for him to feel sorrow for any of that. The truth of it all is our own black people enslaved us and sell us to the foreign people to make money for themselves. And we still don’t learn a thing from that. All that happened centuries ago and now you have idiot Gaston Browne doing the same thing to us today. Selling us out to foreigners like China.
That cow’s anus crevice Gaston Browne and all a dem must be voted out and removed from office before we all are doomed.
@No More…….Yuh chatting shit!!!
Every black person that was enslaved were sold? There were none that was STOLEN? Can you name the source of that piece of history?
For your info: “When France and Britain outlawed slavery in their territories in the early 19th Century, African chiefs who had grown rich and powerful off the slave trade sent protest delegations to Paris and London. Britain abolished the slave trade and slavery itself against fierce opposition from West African and Arab traders.
According to Basil Davidson, celebrated scholar of African history, in his book The African Slave Trade: “The notion that Europe altogether imposed the slave trade on Africa is without any foundation in history … Those Africans who were involved in the trade were seldom the helpless victims of a commerce they did not understand: On the contrary, they responded to its challenge. They exploited its opportunities.”
BTW, the people got the Caribbean islands which are worth billions. Is that not considered reparations?
I really don’t know what’s the relevance of your comment to the question i ask No More?
Are you also of the opinion that the slave trade was all just a mutual trading between Africans and Europeans? There were NO STOLEN Africans that were part of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade? My celebrated African historian is Dr.John Hendrick Clarke. His body of work is what I trust. And it all boils down to whose work we choose believe is the true history.
John Henrik Clarke.
@ Really you don’t know your own history. Go educated yourself. Who you think enslaved their own people and sell them off? They raised the villages and took the people to sell to the foreigners. Yes our own black people did that to us. I don’t spoon feed nobody. Go look up the history of slavery. I’ll even be nice, go look up The Great Triangle.
@To Much, I know enough to know that ALL the Africans that were enslaved were not sold by their people. More were STOLEN than sold. So you should take your own advise and study your history.
Correction above comment is to No More.
We must not forget there were also black slave OWNERS even here in the islands. That’s a part of our history that needs to be more carefully uncovered and exposed. Even in the US some of the largest slave owners were black, especially in Louisiana. There is plenty of blame to go around.
Name them APOLOGISTS
Barbados remove the queen as head of state and replace her with Bill Gates and the WHO
Bill Gates, the WHO and, you left out, the Chinese. Jamaica is already infiltrated with more and more Chinese. China’s agenda is world dominance and they certainly don’t want any other foreign power or black governments putting any stumbling blocks in their way. We already have a so called hideous embassy that absolutely looks like a military barracks…protected by all their cameras, sensors and who knows what else!
There will not be an apology from the monarchy for slavery. To apologize is to accept blame that you’ve wronged a people. An apology would open the door to redress that wrong. They have no intentions of paying reparations to black people – to whom they owe billions.
When reparations are paid don’t forget to get payments from the descendants of BLACK slave owners who lived and descendants of which are still living here. White and Black slave OWNERS must be made to pay. The fact that Black men owned slaves in the Caribbean is nicely covered up. The historical society can give you the facts.
Yeah, those black slaves owners generated billions of $$$ from slavery. Are kings and Queens of the Caribbean — lives in and owns many palaces in the Caribbean — are passing on their wealth and royal status to their offsprings and remains the heads of states of where y’all living.
The false equivalences of chattel slavery and indentured servitude coming from you colonial apologist are astounding.
I have never seen or heard Jews arguing with one another over reparations for the holocaust, nope!!!!!. If you check the European universities and libraries it is recorded history that Jews did in fact sell out Jews during the holocaust.
However, when the topic of reparations and responsibility comes up about trans Atlantic slavery. You hear all kinda things FROM BLACK PEOPLE!!!! to include but not limited to:
1) Christ say to forgive your enemies
2) Blacks sold out blacks
3) It was a long time ago
4) etc.
No other race / tribe / group practices this self defeating mentality like people of African descent.
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