Prince William has sparked more outrage on his turbulent Caribbean tour over accusations he has echoed Britain’s colonialist past.
Dressed in a white military uniform, he was driven in an open-topped Land Rover as he and wife Kate looked on during a military parade in Jamaica.
It came after William tried to ease tensions by expressing his “profound sorrow” for Britain’s involvement in slavery.
A campaigner behind protests against the royal visit to the island called the Land Rover photos: “Absolutely awful.”
While Professor Rosalea Hamilton, a civil rights campaigner and founding director of the Institute of Law and Economics in Jamaica, said: “These unfortunate images are a relic of the past and could have been taken in the 1800s.
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“They signify this young generation is continuing the monarchical traditions of holding one race superior and another inferior.
“Posing in this vehicle totally negates the images we saw in [Bob Marley’s home town] Trench Town this week which seemed to communicate a oneness with the people and the concept of One Love that they talked about. But this is an image of superiority.”
The photos were reminiscent of the ones from 1953 when the Queen and Prince Philip were driven in a Land Rover in Jamaica.
In fact, the vehicle William and Kate were in – which was acquired by the Jamaican military in the 1960s – was used by the Queen on visits to the island nation in 1966 and 1994.
William wore his No1 Tropical dress of the Blues and Royals for the first time, and Kate chose an Alexander McQueen dress for their last engagement in Jamaica.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in the capital Kingston attending the inaugural commissioning parade for service personnel who have completed the Caribbean Military Academy’s officer training programme.
Earlier, at the Governor General of Jamaica’s King’s House residence, William told VIPs: “I strongly agree with my father who said in Barbados last year the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history. I want to express my profound sorrow.
“Slavery was abhorrent. And it should never have happened.”
But he stopped short of apologising for the monarchy’s role in sanctioning the transfer of thousands of slaves from their homelands in the Caribbean and Africa.
Jamaican human rights coalition the Advocates Network slammed the “tone deaf” speech.
The group added: “There was no responsibility taken. There was no committing to reparations. It does not rise to the level of the formal apology that we deserve.”
William also acknowledged the Windrush generation, saying: “We are forever grateful for the immense contribution this generation and their descendants have made to British life.”
The eight-day royal tour comes amid growing anti-monarchy feeling in the Caribbean.
Barbados ditched the Queen as head of state last year. Jamaica still has the Queen as monarch but its prime minister told the visiting royals the nation is “moving on”.
William and Kate last night jetted to the Bahamas where they face further tension. The Bahamas National Reparations Committee has called for millions to be paid in reparations for slavery.
Unhappy about funding for the visit, the group said: “Why are we footing the bill for the benefit of a regime whose rise to ‘greatness’ was fuelled by the enslavement, colonisation and degradation of the people of this land?”
