The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were all smiles as they arrived in the Caribbean despite being forced to cancel a trip to a Belize farm after opposition from villagers.
William and Kate's plane touched down in Belize after opposition from villagers, who cited a range of issues including objections to the couple's helicopter landing site, forced a royal trip to a farm on Sunday to be scrapped.
The issue threatens to overshadow the start of the couple's eight-day tour to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas in honour of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and raises questions about the planning of the trip.However, the couple looked relaxed after their 11-hour long haul trip from the UK and were welcomed by Belize's Governor General Froya Tzalam as they stepped from the Voyager ministerial jet ahead of an official meeting with prime minister Johnny Briceno.
Under the headline "Indian Creek Villagers Don't Want William The Prince To Visit", Channel 7 reported on its website: "Prince William and his wife, Kate the Duchess of Cambridge arrive in Belize on Saturday afternoon - and a highlight of their trip is a visit to a cacao farm in the Toledo District. Sebastian Shol, chairman of Indian Creek village, told the Daily Mail: "We don't want them to land on our land, that's the message that we want to send. They could land anywhere but not on our land."
Channel 7 said the background to the situation centred on tensions between citizens and the state about the "meaning of consent in the context of communal land rights - rights to lands that were expunged in the colonial period by the British".
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