ST JAMES, Jamaica — It was a colourful bunch of people who gathered near the Cornwall branch of the Caribbean Military Technical Training Institute in Flanker, Montego Bay, on Wednesday waiting for Royalty to arrive. Among them was an elderly man who had a business proposition that involved two “coins”. Then there was the group from the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society who registered their displeasure at the Royal visit through song.

But by the end of the event, administrators and students of the institute had broad smiles on their faces, pleased that the facility had been singled out for a visit and tickled pink that they had hobnobbed with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate.

Earlier in the day, there were signs that this may be no ordinary stop on the Royal tour which began on Tuesday and ends on Thursday. Ras Iyah V of the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society complained that the police had asked that the group take down a sign demanding reparation from the British. He was confused about the objection to the sign, he said, because there have been calls at the national level for reparations for the atrocities committed during slavery.

A little later in the afternoon there was talk of another financial transaction when 76-year-old Zachariah Thompson, two small metal discs in his hands, spoke of his wish to sell them to Prince William. He needed the proceeds to buy a tractor so he could farm and earn a living, he explained. The “coins”, he said, were of no use to him, except any proceeds he could get from their sale. Thompson said his grandfather received the metal discs from the Queen years ago and passed them on to him when he was 10 years old.

The discussions among those actually invited to participate in the visit were decidedly more genteel. Some of the usual players from the west were there for a tour of the training centre: National Security Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang, who is also Member of Parliament for St James North West; Homer Davis, the State Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for coordinating special projects and major developments in western Jamaica; and Custos of St James Bishop Conrad Pitkin. The Royal couple was greeted by Major Georgette Grant McDonald, director of the Caribbean Military Technical Training Institute. This was followed by a stakeholders’ forum and ended with a demonstration of an articulated truck simulator. Prince William even took a turn at the steering wheel.

O’neil Haughton, a recent graduate of the training centre, was one of several students who engaged with the Royal couple during the visit. He had the task of explaining to the Royals how the simulator works. It’s a day he won’t soon forget.

“I was in the seat where I controlled the weather and driving conditions of the road in the simulator.  I was explaining to them that I could change the weather conditions such as giving snow, wet roads, high wind levels where the vehicle could be blown off the road,” explained Haughton.

“It was good because it was my first time speaking with someone of the royal family. He spoke with us very decently. Everything was good, we had a good conversation and we interacted well,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE.  

The Royal couple’s visit to Jamaica forms part of an eight-day tour of the Caribbean in recognition of the Queen’s platinum jubilee. The couple earlier visited Belize and will next move on to The Bahamas.