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The couple’s visit to three Caribbean countries — St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda — is part of the Royal Family’s schedule to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Images show Sophie and Prince Edward at Hewanorra International Airport, where they stood in respect of the national anthem of the Eastern Caribbean island nation. The trip follows a controversial Caribbean tour by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last month.

Kate and William’s eight-day trip to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas had a tricky start as two days before they were due to stop at a cacao farm in the village of Indian Creek, it was announced the visit had been cancelled following protests from villagers.

According to travel website Belize Unknown, the Akte ’il Ha cacao farm is “owned and operated by the Maquin family, who are descendants of the ancient Mayas who once cultivated cacao in the region”.

A helicopter carrying the Cambridges was meant to land on a football field in the area.

But village residents, who say they were not consulted about the use of their field, are in dispute with Flora and Fauna International (FFI), a conservation charity that includes Prince William as a patron.

In a statement, FFI said it had purchased land at the nearby Boden Creek from private owners in December last year, and that it was committed to conserving and protecting the area’s wildlife while supporting the livelihoods and traditional rights of local people.

The chair of Indian Creek village, Sebastian Shol, told the Daily Mail: “We don’t want them to land on our land, that’s the message that we want to send.

“They could land anywhere, but not on our land.”

Kensington Palace said that “due to sensitive issues involving the community in Indian Creek, the visit has been moved to a different location”.

That was only the beginning of a tour that highlighted the rowing anti-colonial sentiment across the Caribbean.

In Jamaica, where there have been calls from politicians in recent years for Jamaica to drop the Queen as head of state and become a republic, as well as for a formal acknowledgement of slavery, the Cambridges were accused of benefitting from the “blood, tears and sweat” of slaves.

Edward and Sophie’s tour is seeing hiccups, too. Ahead of their trip, the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission wrote an open letter criticising the Firm for past remarks on slavery.

It read: “We hear the phoney sanctimony of those who came before you that these crimes are a ‘stain on your history’…

“We hope you will respect us by not repeating the mantra. We are not simpletons.”

The duo were due to meet Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, on Saturday. However, the Premier announced the meeting is unlikely to go ahead due to “medical reasons”.

Dr Gonsalves said he awoke last week with “excruciating pain” on his right side, and had been advised to attend a full medical check-up in Venezuela.

He said: “In all probability, I will miss the visit of Prince Edward … and his wife who are coming to St Vincent for one day on Saturday.”

It followed the cancellation, with just one day’s notice, of their trip to Grenada – a decision made after talks with the island’s government and governor-general, Buckingham Palace said.

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