Royal family attend Commonwealth Day service without Queen

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The Queen is the UK’s and several other countries’ head of state, as well as the head of the commonwealth, which is made up of 54 independent countries. The head of the Commonwealth title is mostly symbolic, but carries with it a number of official duties, including visiting commonwealth countries. To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year, members of the Royal Family will be visiting a number of these countries to celebrate 70 years of her accession.

Described to be “very much looking forward to the visit”, Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge are due to visit three countries in the Caribbean where the Queen serves as head of state.

The Royal tour will take place between March 19 and March 26.

Starting in Belize, William and Kate will visit historic Mayan sites and celebrate the rich culture of the Garifuna community, as well as explore the country’s biodiversity.

This will be a trip down memory lane for William, who trained the Welsh Guards regiment in Belize in 2000.

Next, the Duke and Duchess will head over to Jamaica, where they have engagements planned with the Jamaican Defence Force, and will celebrate Jamaica’s musicians, including the seminal legacy of Bob Marley alongside up and coming stars.

The Duke and Duchess will end the tour in The Bahamas, where they will spend time with communities across a number of islands, as well as experience a world-famous junkanoo parade.

Junkanoo is a street parade to celebrate Bahamian culture, filled with music, dancing, and costumes of mixed African origin.

William and Kate expressed their excitement for the tour through the couple’s Twitter account earlier in the year, saying: “We are so excited to visit Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas next month as we mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

“We can’t wait to meet people in all three countries, celebrate local cultures and understand more about innovative work being done across communities.”

The COVID-19 response will be a feature of importance throughout the programme, as the Duke and Duchess are noted to be keen to understand more about how the Caribbean countries have dealt with the pandemic, the impact it has posed, as well as how they have pulled together to respond to challenges.

The programme will also touch on a number of key causes in their Royal work, including The Earthshot Prize, mental health, and the importance of early childhood to lifelong outcomes.

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As with previous overseas visits, The Duke and Duchess are noted to have asked to meet as many local people as possible, with plans to meet a wide variety of groups, including children, young people and families, frontline workers, service personnel, leaders from government, business and the charity sector as well as inspiring conservationists, and the early years workforce.

This trip marks William and Kate’s first joint official overseas tour since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020.

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