Vybz Kartel and Beenie Man had two different reactions to Royals Prince William and Kate Middleton visiting Jamaica.
There’s been much talk about the Royals, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, visiting Jamaica as part of their Commonwealth visit to the Caribbean, which included Jamaica and Belize.
On Tuesday, the Royals landed in Jamaica, but there was not much fanfare as many Jamaicans were not welcoming to the grandchildren of reigning Queen Elizabeth, who is set to transition and hand over the crown to her son Prince Charles.
There have been calls for an apology for slavery to the Jamaican people as the island was formerly colonized by the British, and Africans were brought to the island as slaves to work on the sugar plantations.
Others have asked for reparations from the British government to the descendants of enslaved people. They want monetary compensation for the traumatic, death, and life-altering conditions slavery inflicted on their ancestors, particularly since Britain up to 2015 continued to compensate the former slave owners for the loss of their slaves after slavery was abolished in 1838 in the Commonwealth.
Among those who were making it known that they had no interest in either Prince William or Duchess Kate visiting the island was Beenie Man.
According to Beenie Man, Jamaicans “don’t care” about the Royals and would have been more receptive if Harry and Meghan, William’s brother and his black wife, were visiting.
While on Good Morning Britain, Beenie Man, whose real name is Moses Davis, said Jamaicans do not care for the British Monarchy, which has done nothing to support the growing country plagued by problems post-independence.
“Jamaicans nuh want the Queen, me can tell you that. Them nuh like be controlled by nobody. If Harry did deh yah, people would a react different, people would a go meet Harry. But William, nobody nuh want see that,” Beenie Man said.
“We are just here, controlled by the British, ruled by the British law when you go in the court. It’s all about the Queen and the Queen this and the Queen that, but what are they doing for Jamaica? They are not doing anything for us,” he added.
William and Kate’s visit form part of the 60th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence and the 70th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were seen enjoying a cultural show in Trench Town in Kingston after arriving in Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon.
Their visit was, however, marked by protests by Jamaicans who criticized the British Monarchy for its history in colonialism.
Earlier, they had canceled a visit to a village in Belize after angry villagers called out the royal family over their historical ties to slavery.
There has been no official statement from the Duke and Duchess.
In the meantime, British Press on Tuesday claimed that Jamaica was in the process of removing the Queen as the Head of State and becoming a Republic. Prime Minister Andrew Holness had previously said the decision would be careful, but there has been no official confirmation by the Jamaican government. The country, in the meantime, continues to use the British common law and has its highest court of appeal as the UK Privy Council.
Vybz Kartel shared a clip of Prince William and Kate Middleton stepping off their plane in Kingston.
“The boss and his wife,” Kartel wrote while adding a ring emoji.
