Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton arrive on the green carpet for the inaugural Earthshot Prize ceremony at Alexandra Palace in London in October 2021.
File Photo by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE
March 19 (UPI) -- Prince William and Kate Middleton canceled their scheduled trip to visit a cacao farm in Belize after local residents protested.
The duke and duchess of Cambridge were scheduled to visit the Akte'il Ha cacao farm in the village of Indian Creek to launch a Caribbean tour, The Guardian reported.
"We can confirm that due to sensitive issues involving the community in Indian Creek, the visit has been moved to a different location," a spokesperson for Kensington Palace told the outlet.
The eight-day Caribbean tour has been described as an attempt from the royal family to garner support for the monarchy in the region after Barbados last year became a republic and removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state for the former British colony.
Residents in Belize demonstrated against the trip amid a property ownership dispute with Flora and Fauna International, saying that some of the 12,000 acres the conservation non-profit owns near Indian Creek fall within the communal lands of village, local broadcaster Channel 7 reported.
Prince William is a patron of the FFI non-profit and was expected to land by chartered helicopter on a soccer pitch in the village on Sunday, according to the outlet. However, residents said they were not consulted about the decision.
"We don't want them to land in our land, that's the message that we want to send. They could land anywhere but not in our land," village chairman Sebastian Sol told Channel 7.
Dionisio Shol, a local youth leader, said the village is "still suffering from the colonial legacy, which simply means for us Prince William being a patron to FFI is from the colonial era."
In photos to social media, demonstrators held signs with messages such as "colonial legacy of theft continues with Prince & FFI."
March 19 (UPI) -- Prince William and Kate Middleton canceled their scheduled trip to visit a cacao farm in Belize after local residents protested.
The duke and duchess of Cambridge were scheduled to visit the Akte'il Ha cacao farm in the village of Indian Creek to launch a Caribbean tour, The Guardian reported.
"We can confirm that due to sensitive issues involving the community in Indian Creek, the visit has been moved to a different location," a spokesperson for Kensington Palace told the outlet.
The eight-day Caribbean tour has been described as an attempt from the royal family to garner support for the monarchy in the region after Barbados last year became a republic and removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state for the former British colony.
Residents in Belize demonstrated against the trip amid a property ownership dispute with Flora and Fauna International, saying that some of the 12,000 acres the conservation non-profit owns near Indian Creek fall within the communal lands of village, local broadcaster Channel 7 reported.
Prince William is a patron of the FFI non-profit and was expected to land by chartered helicopter on a soccer pitch in the village on Sunday, according to the outlet. However, residents said they were not consulted about the decision.
"We don't want them to land in our land, that's the message that we want to send. They could land anywhere but not in our land," village chairman Sebastian Sol told Channel 7.
Dionisio Shol, a local youth leader, said the village is "still suffering from the colonial legacy, which simply means for us Prince William being a patron to FFI is from the colonial era."
In photos to social media, demonstrators held signs with messages such as "colonial legacy of theft continues with Prince & FFI."
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