The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were forced to scrap the first stop on their Caribbean tour because of protesters.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Caribbean trip has been disrupted
Prince William and his wife Catherine are on an eight-day tour of the region and were due to kick off the visit with a trip to a cacao farm in Belize on Sunday (20.03.22), but following claims of "colonialism" from local villagers, a contingency plan has been activated, which will result in them visiting a different part of the island.
Kensington Palace confirmed the schedule change was due to "sensitive issues" involving the Indian Creek community.
Locals were said to be unhappy that they were not consulted about the visit to the Maya village and upset the royal pair's helicopter was scheduled to land on a piece of land at the centre of an ownership rights dispute between the village and conservation group Fauna Flora International (FFI).
On Friday (18.03.22), residents were pictured holding signs which read: "Colonial legacy of theft continues with Prince FFI" and "Not your land, not your decision."
A village youth leader told The Times newspaper: "We, the villages, consider that we have suffered the legacy of colonialism, and we are directly still being impacted by that."
Rehinalio Maquin, the owner of the cacao farm, is "deeply disappointed" that William and Catherine will no longer visit his business and has expressed his "sincerest regret" over the protests.
He told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "I feel deeply disappointed with my people. The protest has had a very negative impact on my little business. I am so disappointed.
"Please share with the Duke of Cambridge my sincerest regret that I was robbed of the chance to give our most humble welcome and performance that we had prepared for him.
"I really would have loved this once in a lifetime opportunity to share my love of chocolate and to meet in person the grandson of a lady that I have only ever seen on my dollar bills."
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