Reggae, Rastafarians and royalty as Duke and Duchess of Cambridge head to Caribbean for Platinum Jubilee
There will be Bob Marley music, a vibrant street parade and many, many hands to shake.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will kick off the first batch of royal tours marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a week-long visit to Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize next month.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex will continue the royal Caribbean charm offensive from April 22 - 28, with visits to Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, Buckingham Palace announced.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will spend three days in Ireland from March 23 and the Princess Royal will visit Papua New Guinea from April 11 - 13.
Winning back the Commonwealth
The tours of the Caribbean come at a critical time, as Commonwealth realms increasingly debate whether to follow Barbados in severing ties with the British monarchy, amid fears of “inevitable” constitutional reform.
The Queen, 95, reached her Platinum Jubilee on February 6, becoming the first British monarch in history to do so.
However, she called time on overseas travel several years ago, leaving the other family members to fly the flag on her behalf.
The Duke of York, who travelled to India in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee, will not take part in this year’s celebrations, having been effectively sacked as a working royal. The Duke of Sussex, whose hugely successful visit to the Caribbean in 2012 was his first solo tour on behalf of the Queen, is also off the roster.
The Cambridges will begin their week-long tour on March 19 in Belize, where they will visit historic Mayan sites before heading to Jamaica to celebrate the legacy of Bob Marley and other ground-breaking Jamaican musicians.
In the Bahamas, they will experience the famous Junkanoo street parade, Kensington Palace said.
They will visit Coral Vita, a coral farm focused on reef restoration that was last year named one of the five £1 million winners of the Duke’s inaugural Earthshot Prize, the Telegraph understands.
The couple has asked to meet as many local people as possible.
It will be their first joint official overseas tour since they travelled to Ireland in March 2020, shortly before the onset of the pandemic.
In a personal message published on their Twitter account, they said: “We are so excited to visit Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas next month as we mark The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
“We can’t wait to meet people in all three countries, celebrate local cultures and understand more about innovative work being done across communities.”
The message was signed off with “W & C”.
