Prince Charles (second right), followed by his wife Camilla (right), Duchess of Cornwall, are escorted by Govenor-General Sir Kenneth Hall (left) and Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force Major General Stewart Saunders, on their arrival at Victoria Pier in downtown Kingston yesterday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

PRINCE Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, yesterday received a warm Jamaican red-carpet welcome when they arrived at the Victoria Pier in downtown Kingston at 10:10 am for a three-day official visit.

The couple, who arrived aboard The Leander, a luxury motor yacht, after a four-day visit to the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, was met by several dignitaries, headed by Jamaica's governor-general, Sir Kenneth Hall, who was accompanied by his wife, Rheima Hall.

Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force Major General Stewart Saunders, Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, and Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie were also among the welcoming party.

Prince Charles, dressed in a double-breasted grey suit, was later invited to inspect a guard of honour mounted by the First Battalion of the Jamaica Regiment.

All this was amid heavy security provided by the Jamaica Constabulary Force, which had officers strategically placed on the ground and atop the 12-storey Ministry of Health building and the Jamaica Conference Centre.

But the police weren't the only ones watching the prince. A number of persons looked on from balconies at the health ministry, while others were glued to a section of the building where they got a good view from large glass windows.
Scores of persons who had gathered on nearby streets also came to get a look at the royal couple.

Some captured the moment with their small digital cameras and camera phones.

Camilla, dressed in a three-quarter sleeve dress complete with diagonal ruffles, accessorised by a single strand of pearls and pearl earrings, and holding a cream parasol and handbag, was rejoined by the prince after he inspected the guard of honour.

They then greeted flag-waving students from First Missionary Basic School, Region Street Basic School, Holy Family Infant and Primary School and Chinloy's Basic School. The couple chatted with some of the youngsters briefly.
"Are you in the Boy Scouts?" the prince asked one of the boys.

"What time do you go to school, are you always there on time?" he asked another youngster.

Twelve-year-old Damoy Robert, a grade six student at Holy Family Infant and Primary School, was obviously overcome with glee when the prince shook his hand.
"I feel very special," Damoy told the Observer, adding that he would be boasting to his friends when he went back to school.
Prince Charles and the Duchess were then escorted to the Bob Marley Museum on Old Hope Road where they were welcomed by students from Charlemont High School in St Catherine, who sang Marley's One Love and No Woman No Cry, among other Marley songs. The royal couple was also escorted on a tour of the facility by Marley's widow, Rita, and got a chance to see a mixing board used in a studio on the premises.

The royal couple's next stop was Rose Town, an inner-city community in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, where they visited an ongoing development project being sponsored by one of the prince's charities. Residents there lined the streets as they tried to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. A few of them got handshakes from the couple.

"He is very welcome here and we appreciate the work that he is doing to help our community," one resident said of Charles.

The couple toured a library in Rose Town, and the prince unveiled a plaque, marking the area where a park will be built under the community's development project. He also planted a small Lignum Vitae (the national tree) in front of the community centre.

From there the couple moved on to a meeting with Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller.

He later launched a community peace cup football competition at King's House.
(Rose Town optimistic after visit by Prince Charles - Page 4)

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