Prince William and Kate Middleton.Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage
Kate MiddletonandPrince Williamare kicking off the final leg of their Caribbean tour with a visit to the Bahamas.
Upon their arrival, they received a ceremonial welcome and were then whisked away for a meeting with Bahamas' Prime Minister Philip Davis.
“[Kate] said I had a nice dress and I was beautiful and thank you for the flowers,” Aniah tells PEOPLE. Asked what she thought of the royals, she adds, “I think they’re very tall!”
Aniah’s mother, Kendenique Campbell-Moss, says her daughter was asked to perform the flower girl duty without a chaperone: “She was all on her own like a big girl!”
Noting that Aniah is the same age as William and Kate’s eldest sonPrince George, Campbell-Moss says, “He’d like it here for the sand and sea.” The proud mother adds that the dress was bought for Easter last year. “When we were called last night to be the flower girl, I thought I better pull it out and make sure she’s ready for the day!”
Aniah Moss.Simon Perry
During their visit, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will take part in The Bahamas Platinum Jubilee Sailing Regatta in Nassau, meet with one of William’s Earthshot Prize winners, Coral Vita, on Grand Bahama Island, and see theirground-breaking ideas for restoring and preserving reefsand see firsthand how people in Abaco coped in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
Prince William and Kate Middleton.Samir Hussein/WireImage
For the first time, the royal couple are facingsignificant backlashon an official tour. Although they have receivedwarm welcomes from many localsduring their visits to Belize and Jamaica, they are also encountering mounting tensions in the Caribbean nations where William’s grandmother,Queen Elizabeth, remains head of state.
Ahead of their arrival in Belize, anti-colonial protests forced them to cancel one of their first outings. And in Jamaica, they faced calls for reparations and for the Queen to be dropped as head of state from Jamaica.
Kate Middleton and Prince William pose with the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, and his wife Ann-Marie Davis.Chris Jackson/Getty
At a dinner at King’s House, the official residence of the Governor-General of Jamaica,William made a landmark speechin which he acknowledged Britain’s role in the trafficking of people to the Caribbean and the United States.
“I want to express my profound sorrow. Slavery was abhorrent. And it should never have happened,” he said
His address came after a meeting with Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, whodirectly addressedhis country’s intention to break away from the British monarchy.
They may also face more criticism during their two-day visit. Ahead of their arrival, the Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC) released a letter that stated: “The time is now for reparations.”
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The rising tide of social and economic justice movements — including calls for slavery reparations and indigenous rights expansion — are rapidly reshaping contemporary views of the monarchy at a time when it is in transition: As Elizabeth, 95,marks 70 years on the throne, William, 39, and Kate, 40, are increasingly the modern face of both the family and the institution.
source: people.com
