The royal family have been urged to to account for slavery during the platinum jubilee tour of eastern Caribbean.
Campaigners in Antigua have asked the monarchy to be careful of "insulting" descendants of African people who were enslaved by Britain, by glossing over any of the atrocities committed in the past.
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, who arrived in the country on Friday afternoon, were greeted by the deputy prime minister of Saint Lucia Dr Ernest Hilaire and honoured with a red carpet welcome.
The warning, in the form of a strongly-worded public statement from the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission, came just hours before the royal couple began their trip.
Criticising the royal family's past comments on slavery, including recent Prince William, the letter read: "It has become common for members of the royal family and representatives of the government of Britain to come to this region and lament that slavery was an ‘appalling atrocity’, that it was ‘abhorrent’, that 'it should not have happened.'"
"We hear the phony sanctimony of those who came before you that these crimes are a ‘stain on your history’. For us, they are the source of genocide and of continuing deep international injury, injustice and racism. We hope you will respect us by not repeating the mantra. We are not simpletons."
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The platinum jubilee tour, which was organised to mark the Queen’s 70-year reign, comes shortly after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were criticised during their own recent Caribbean tour.
Dorbrene E O’Marde, who is the chair of Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission, called for the island nation to divorce from British monarchy and "full political emancipation."
He said that the Queen's reign has been so long that people in the country still continue to "cling to colonial doctrines and structures."
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"The historical moment for the realisation of our full sovereignty is upon us. Generations before ours fought for the abolition of British enslavement, others for the attainment of adult suffrage and the rejection of colonial rule, other for independence. It has been a long struggle," he added.
Meanwhile, Prince Edward and Sophie who were meant tour Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, cancelled the Grenada leg of their tour just last week.
No official explanation has been given regarding the last-minute cancellation, a source told The Express: "There were concerns it was going to be very expensive for taxpayers in Grenada and they were only coming for eight hours."
The decision is thought to have been made after consulting with the Grenada government. These changed plans have also come on the back new details – from the Bank of England's research – emerging about Britain’s role in the enslavement of Black people in its former colony.
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