Prince William and Kate Middleton were jammin’ when they visited the home of the late music icon Bob Marley on Tuesday (Mar. 22). On the fourth day of William, 39, and Kate’s tour of the Caribbean, as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge traveled to the Trench Town neighborhood of Kingston, the birthplace of reggae music. While at Marley’s home – which has been converted into a museum in honor of the musician and political activist – Kate, 40, and William played the drums along with some local musicians. As Bob Marley once sang, “Who Feels it, knows it,” and judging by the smiles on Kate and William’s faces, they were feeling the joy of the music.
William and Kate met with local sports stars during their visit, like the recent Olympic bobsled team. William got in a little bit of sport, participating in a soccer game while Kate cheered from the sidelines. William even met with Raheem Sterling and Leon Bailey (People notes that Bailey plays for William’s favorite club, Aston Villa.)
Bob referred to Trench Town in “No Woman No Cry” (‘Cause, ’cause, ’cause I remember when we used to sit / In the government yard in Trenchtown / Oba, observing the hypocrites, yeah / Mingle with the good people we meet, yeah,” per Genius) and had two songs named after the neighborhood: “Trenchtown Rock” and “Trench Town.” Donnette Dowe, the Trench Town Culture Yard manager, told Jamaica’s The Gleaner that they hope the royal couple’s visit will spark some tourism.
“We’re not getting enough visitors … The minister of tourism set up this resilient corridor, which Kingston is not included in,” said Dowe. “Because of that, we’re not having visitors coming here to Kingston, mainly Trench Town, so it’s slow. It’s just since November [2021] things kinda pick up back.”
“When dem come here, it’s blessing that will elevate the community,” said tour guide Kevin Lewis. “[We] just want the strength. That’s the main reason I’m looking forward to them coming here, so we can get strength and build the community.”
However, not everyone was excited to see Kate and Williams. Jamaican activists, professors, politicians, and other community leaders have called on the United Kingdom to apologize for its role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and to pay reparations, per Al-Jazeera. Dozens of protestors gathered outside the British High Commission in Kingston, where they sang traditional Rastafarian songs and held banners with the phrase “seh yuh sorry,” a local patois phrase that urged Britain to take accountability for its actions.