Prince William, Kate Middleton's Caribbean tour labelled a 'royal disaster'

Prince William and Kate Middleton's charm offensive failed to change the determined minds of Jamaicans to free themselves from under the rule of the British monarchy.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toured the Caribbean on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations. They started off in Belize and then in Jamaica, with their last stop in the Bahamas.

They were welcomed to dancing and to the taste of local chocolates during their first stop. They tried to immerse themselves in the nation's culture before they proceeded to Jamaica. But their arrival there was met by protesters demanding reparations for the British monarchy's enslavement of their people thousands of years ago.

Prince William and Kate Middleton had hoped to turn the Jamaicans off from the idea that they can be an independent nation, but their hope fell flat when Prime Minister Andrew Holness strongly made it known that his country wants to remove Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.

In response, the Duke of Cambridge only acknowledged that "slavery was abhorrent" and "should never have happened" during his speech at the governor-general's residence on Wednesday, March 23. He condemned slavery and expressed his "profound sorrow" but did not ask for forgiveness as what the protesters wanted and made no mention of any reparations.

"Jamaica is almost certainly going to become a Republic, it's happening," Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, a British group campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy, told Newsweek.

He said, "The assumption was that they were going there to try to shore up support for the Monarchy and stop other countries following Barbados and I think it's had the direct opposite effect."

To make matters worse is the photo of Prince William and Kate Middleton shaking hands with children from behind wire mesh fencing. They greeted the children who had gathered outside to see them during their visit to Trench Town, in Kingston to meet Manchester City and England soccer star Raheem Sterling at a football pitch.

Smith said the photo caused quite a stir even though it was "cropped and not as bad as it looked." He explained, "the fact it did the rounds and caused such a reaction speaks volumes about how people are feeling about the monarchy and the British legacy in the Caribbean." Prince William and Kate Middleton face more problems with their Bahamas tour as they will again be asked to make a formal apology and address reparations.