Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex cancel part of Caribbean royal tour as country removed from itinerary
Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex have cancelled part of their upcoming royal tour of the Caribbean at short notice.
The royal couple had been due to visit Grenada as part of six day trip starting on Friday, that will see them visit a number of countries in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee year.
It was announced on Thursday that Grenada has been removed from the itinerary, with no official explanation as yet.
However it comes days after after fresh details emerged regarding Britain’s role in the enslavement of Black people in the island nation while it was a colony.
Research commissioned by the Bank of England in the wake of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020 recently revealed that ownership of two plantations and 599 people was transferred to the financial institution in the early 1770s.
The names of the 599 enslaved people can be viewed within the free exhibition, launched last week, at the bank’s museum on Threadneedle street in central London.
Though the Bank of England has previously apologised for its historical links to the slave trade, this insight regarding its direct ownership of Black people has caused upset among the Caribbean diaspora and, in particular, descendants of those who were enslaved under the regime which dealt in the trade of sugar, cofee and Africans.
In consultation with the Government of Grenada and on the advice of the Governor General, The Earl and Countess of Wessex’s visit to Grenada has been postponed, it is understood, though they hope to visit at a later date.
Ambassador Arley Gill, Chairman of the Grenada National Reparations Committee, said: “this exhibit at the Bank of England’s museum in London brings home to us now — if we were not aware of it before — the exploitation of Grenada as a colony of Great Britain and its institutions, and should intensify our urgent call-to-action to every Grenadian to join the fight for reparations and reparatory justice for the descendants of enslaved people here in Grenada”
“The time has come for the British government and the descendants of British elites who benefitted from the enslavement of our ancestors to own-up to this heinous crime against humanity – and do the right thing,” he added.
“As an institution, the Bank of England was never itself directly involved in the slave trade, but is aware of some inexcusable connections involving former governors and directors and apologises for them,” the Bank of England said in a previous statement.
The transatlantic slave trade saw the transportation of millions of people from Africa to the Caribbean and North America – which British monarchs and the elite class profited from during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex will instead visit Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda, from Friday 22 – Thursday 28 April.
Prince Edward – who’s 14th in line to the throne and the Queen’s youngest child – will along with the countess, Sophie, celebrate “the culture, future and vibrancy of the islands” during his six-day voyage, meeting communities, local entrepreneurs and craftspeople, and young people,
The couple reportedly revised their tour schedule to avoid “PR mistakes” following critcism levied at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s tour of Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
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