No one stopped to explain, but it was noticeable that when Prince William made a brief stop in Trench Town as part of his three-day visit to Jamaica last week, he was following in the footsteps of his younger brother, Harry, and before that their father, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.

Charles, the Prince of Wales, who could become king any day now given the failing health of his 95-year-old mother, Queen Elizabeth 11, became a rock star after a photograph of him wearing a red, green and gold tam with faux dreadlocks flashed around the globe, from a brief trip he made to Trench Town in 2000.

He also made another brief stop moment in the West Kingston community during his official trip to Jamaica in 2008, when he was accompanied by his wife, Camilla.

Harry, one of the most popular members of the Royal Family, wowed Jamaicans and the world in 2012 when he was photographed dancing to music by Bob Marley, the Third World’s first megastar who made Trench Town famous as the spiritual home of reggae music.

Last week, William visited with his wife Kate, to mark the 70th anniversary of the coronation of The Queen, which coincided with activities commemorating Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of political Independence.

The Royals participated in cultural and sporting activities in Trench Town on the first day of their tour. As on the previous visits, they were greeted by wildly estatic crowds who made them feel welcome.

It would appear that the monarchy have not left Trench Town empty-handed. When Prince Charles visited the Rose Town enclave, he was said to have been moved to improve the livelihood of residents, through his Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment —a vehicle for providing holistic solutions to challenges across the world. Out of that, the Rose Town Foundation was born.

“Prince Charles visited in 2008. He met with Mr Michael Black who was one of the persons who helped to form the Rose Town Benevolent Society that was working to develop the community and they were very impressed with the efforts of the community members to try and build the community,” said Ruth Jankee who became executive director of the foundation in 2016.

“So he said, through his foundation — the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment — he would try to provide some support towards building the community. The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment is one of 77 different charities that he supports all over the world but this particular one was providing support for Rose Town. The mandate was given that the foundation must be based in the community. It wasn’t going to be a foundation or a group outside that would not truly represent, “ Jankee added.

She believes that each of The Royals had different areas of interest and focus [but] there may be some overlap.

According to the rosetownfoundation.org, the Rose Town Foundation was established in 2010 to assist in creating opportunities for residents of the Rose Town community to improve the quality of their lives through active participation in development programmes that enhance their built environment, socio-economic status and community health.

The foundation continues to receive technical and financial support from Prince Charles’ initiative, leading to meaningful improvements that have changed lives since its inception, said Jankee.

The existing projects spawned by the foundation include the Rollins Enterprise Centre, Rose Town Farmers Group, Education Programme and Land Tenure programme.

“So we’ve refurbished the Knowledge Enterprise Centre which is the main building in Rose Town. If you know Rose Town, we have acres of abandoned land and so our office was built in the middle to ensure a safe space for people to access Rose Town.

“We have an education programme that has gone from being an after-school programme to offering online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic and now we are working again to provide support to children who have been out of the school system for some time and help them to transition,” Jankee told the Observer.

“We have a farm that provides vegetables for sale in the community to cook shops and it’s part of meals provided as part of our education programme. We actually have a collaboration with the Prince’s foundation and a US group for women who provide social, personal development and skills training,” she noted.

Jankee noted that the foundation works with the National Land Agency to help residents earn titles for land in the West Kingston community.

Listed on the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment website, Rose Town was described as a ‘once forlorn Jamaican town’ as it, for the most part, fell into ruin after politically influenced violence.

“The Prince’s foundation and members of the community hatched a master plan to bring the troubled town back to life… to further involve and inspire residents, The Prince’s foundation also established a Building Crafts Apprentice Training Programme (BCA), which allowed young members of the community to gain vital building skills and then put them into practice.

Examples of the BCA’s hard work include the removal of road barricades and the renovation of the Rose Town library, the website stated.

“Today, the future of Rose Town looks brighter than ever,” added the website.