Prince Edward and his wife Sophie are expected to be met with calls for slavery reparations on their tour of the Caribbean.
The tour which kicked off yesterday got off to a rocky start before the couple had even departed after the Grenada leg was cancelled.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda until Thursday (April 28), to mark 70 years of the Queen’s reign.
The Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission is due to present an open letter regarding reparations and restorative justice for the transatlantic slave trade, in which Britain was central, to the couple after they arrive.
Dorbrene O'Marde, of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission, said there had been an "absence of an apology from the Crown...for their role in the enslavement of African people".
The trip comes just weeks after Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, took part in a similar trip that was widely considered a PR disaster for the royal family.
The week-long trip to the realms of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas was hit by protests and allegations of displaying colonial undertones from a bygone era when Prince William and Kate chose to ride in an open top Land Rover used by the Queen in the 1960s, while the Duke wore a tropical military uniform.
William spoke of his "profound sorrow" over slavery during a speech at a dinner in Jamaica.
The future king said slavery was abhorrent, "should never have happened" and "forever stains our history".
The couple also faced being ambushed during a meeting with the island's prime minister, Andrew Holness, who told the future king his country was “moving on” from British rule and planned to pursue its goals as an independent country.
William’s speech was slammed as not going far enough to apologise for the British monarch’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Saint Lucia’s National Reparations Commission (NRC), also appointed by the government, yesterday (FRI) said “royal expressions of sorrow” regarding slavery do not go far enough enough and announbced it would demand a full apology from the royal family.
Royal sources suggested there had been some nervousness on the part of the Wessexes that they would also face the same issues as the Cambridges.
Further reports suggested Grenada's Government asked for the Wessexes' visit to be called off after officials complained they would be spending just eight hours there during their week-long tour of the Caribbean.
One said: "There were concerns it was going to be very expensive for taxpayers in Grenada and they were only coming for eight hours."
Others said it was felt the couple's tour would fail to achieve its twin objectives - to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and to showcase the islands visited.
Buckingham Palace said the couple "will meet communities, local entrepreneurs and craftspeople, and young people, in celebration of the culture, future and vibrancy of the islands.”
While visiting Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Earl will meet athletes in training for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in Birmingham this summer.
The Countess will also meet women in leadership roles about the community's response to the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano.
