Prince William and Raheem Sterling play football on Jamaica tour
- Published
William joined Raheem Sterling (not pictured) and some young footballers in a kickabout
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in Jamaica as part of their tour of the Caribbean.
Prince William and Catherine visited the neighbourhood where reggae legend Bob Marley lived and played football with England forward Raheem Sterling, who was born on the island.
The couple travelled from Belize on the Voyager ministerial jet.
The Caribbean tour comes four months after Barbados removed the Queen as head of state.
On day four, the royals received a warm official welcome to Jamaica in blustery conditions, and the duke took a salute from a guard of honour formed by the Jamaica Defence Force.
They later visited Trench Town, the Kingston neighbourhood where Marley grew up, and went to the Trench Town Culture Yard museum - which celebrates reggae music.
The duke and duchess played drums with some local musicians in the courtyard where the singer learned to perform.
Raheem Sterling moved from Jamaica to England as a young boy
The duke and duchess also met the Jamaican bobsleigh team
Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, also enjoyed a kickabout with some young footballers and Manchester City forward Sterling.
Sterling said he had been given special dispensation by England manager Gareth Southgate to travel ahead of the national team playing Switzerland in a friendly in London at the weekend.
He was there as part of his efforts to improve social mobility for young people through his Raheem Sterling Foundation, which works with partners in Jamaica, Manchester and London to give disadvantaged youths opportunities to break out of poverty.
Jamaica international Leon Bailey, who plays for the prince's beloved Aston Villa, was also present for the visit and chatted with fans.
The Cambridges also met the island's bobsleigh team, and talked about the film Cool Runnings which immortalised the 1988 Jamaican Winter Olympics team.
The duke said it was "one of our favourites".
The couple were the subject of a small protest, which called for reparations from the British monarchy for slavery.
Protesters gathered at the British High Commission in Kingston with placards and accused the monarchy of benefitting from the "blood, tears and sweat" of slaves.
Like in Barbados, there have been some calls in recent years for Jamaica to drop the Queen as the head of state and become a republic, as well as for a formal acknowledgement of slavery.
The duke is expected to address the issue of slavery during a speech at a dinner hosted by the Governor General of Jamaica.
At the scene
Jonny Dymond, BBC royal correspondent in Jamaica
Wow. Not for a long time have William and Kate had a reception like they did in Trench Town. This was an explosion of pleasure and joy in downtown Kingston.
The sun was still hot and high as the crowds built up, pressed against the wire fencing around a city centre football pitch, perched on walls and buildings overlooking the pitch.
As the sun sank and the shadows lengthened, with the sound of sirens - and then wild cheering - the couple were here.
The duke took to the football pitch: a pass to Raheem Sterling produced one goal; a rather wilder kick almost took out one of the travelling royal correspondents. The crowd cheered every time the duke got the ball.
And then a walkabout down to the next engagement produced something close to hysteria - a throbbing circle of cheering admirers surrounded Kate and William and almost drove the couple down the road and into the Trench Town Culture Yard museum.
There are lots of important topics to discuss - Prince William will address slavery on Wednesday.
But whatever he says or the couple do next, Trench Town will remember their visit for a long time to come.
- Published20 March 2022
- Published20 March 2022
- Published9 March 2022
