Prince Harry says ‘I had to be here’ as he and Meghan attend film premiere and pose next to anti-royal PM who wants to ditch the monarchy as Charles undergoes prostate surgery and Kate recovers in hospital
Prince Harry said ‘I had to be here’ after arriving at a film premiere in Jamaica where he and Meghan Markle posed next to the country’s anti-royal prime minister – as King Charles undergoes prostate surgery and Princess Kate recovers in hospital.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were pictured with Prime Minister Andrew Holness on the red carpet after they flew from their £11million home in California to Kingston for the glitzy premiere of the new Bob Marley film One Love last night.
The Sussexes also posed with Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s minister for legal and constitutional affairs who last year suggested the Caribbean country could become independent of the British monarch and have its own president in 2024.
She said that Jamaica could soon ‘sever ties’ with the monarchy, and the nation’s future should be ‘in Jamaican hands’.
Harry and Meghan’s surprise appearance comes just days after a double royal health scare back in Britain, as the duke’s father prepares for a prostate procedure and his sister-in-law Princess Kate recovers in hospital following abdominal surgery.
It’s not clear who invited the Sussexes to the premiere, but according to Caribbean National Weekly, Harry told the media on the red carpet: ‘I had to be here.’
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance at the world premiere of Bob Marley: One Love on Tuesday. They are pictured here with anti-royal Jamaican PM Andrew Holness
Harry and Meghan’s surprise appearance comes just days after a double royal health scare back hit Britain
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pictured getting cozy on the red carpet for the film premiere last night
Harry and Meghan’s surprise appearance comes as the royal family were hit with a double health scare. Charles is preparing for a prostate procedure and Kate is recovering from abdominal surgery
Meghan, who donned a stylish all-black ensemble and Harry, who opted for a more casual tieless suit, were snapped mingling with star guests, holding hands and enjoying a moment of PDA in front of others during their visit.
Harry had travelled to Jamaica in 2012 during his Diamond Jubilee tour of the Caribbean, and he was seen dancing with a large crowd to Marley’s hit One Love. He also met the late musician’s widow, Rita Marley.
Cozying up to Mr Holness has raised fresh questions of the Sussexes given the Jamaican PM is pushing ahead for plans for the country to become a republic.
A referendum is set to be held later this year, with Mr Holness previously admitting that the island wanted to cut ties with Britain after Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
Sussex cheerleader Omid Scobie pointed out that Harry and Meghan’s smiles with Jamaica’s PM were ‘a different vibe to the last time we saw Mr Holness with members of the Royal Family’ – referring to when he told Prince William and Kate in March 2022 that he intended to get rid of the monarchy.
Ms Forte later tweeted a photo of them, prompting an X user to say: ‘Even more hilarious: the person with them here is the minister in charge of changing the constitution and making us a republic.’ Ms Forte replied, saying: ‘This is #OneLove!’
With other observers still waiting for a statement from the Sussexes about Charles and Kate being in hospital, royal commentator Phil Dampier told MailOnline: ‘It seems Harry and Meghan will turn up at the opening of an envelope these days.
The Duke and Duchess with Andrew Holness, his wife Juliet and Olivia Grange last night
The duke and duchess with Paramount president Brian Robbins and his wife Tracy James
‘Under normal circumstances there would be nothing wrong with them going to a film premiere. But at a time when his father is going under the knife and Jamaica is making noises about ditching the monarchy, this is rather insensitive.
ANALYSIS: ‘Appearance emphasises yet again the different world the Sussexes now live in’
BY PHIL DAMPIER
It seems Harry and Meghan will turn up at the opening of an envelope these days.
Under normal circumstances there would be nothing wrong with them going to a film premiere.
But at a time when his father is going under the knife and Jamaica is making noises about ditching the monarchy, this is rather insensitive.
The royals have of course always said its up to individual countries to decide whether to become republics.
But I always thought it was very sad that Barbados got rid of the Queen near the end of her life without a referendum.
Jamaica will have a referendum but it’s almost certain they will go their own way eventually.
Harry has happy memories of Jamaica – we remember him ‘winning’ a dash against Usain Bolt – and clearly the couple felt at home.
But it’s sending out a message that they support that country when they haven’t found the time to make a public show of support for the King and the Princess of Wales.
They may have done so in private, but they are certainly not going out of their way to say they want a reconciliation and this appearance emphasises yet again the different world they now live in.
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‘The royals have of course always said it’s up to individual countries to decide whether to become republics. But I always thought it was very sad that Barbados got rid of the Queen near the end of her life without a referendum.
‘Jamaica will have a referendum but it’s almost certain they will go their own way eventually.’
Mr Dampier added that Harry has ‘happy memories’ of Jamaica, including when he famously ‘won’ a run against Usain Bolt during a visit in 2012.
However, he continued: ‘Clearly the couple felt at home. But it’s sending out a message that they support that country when they haven’t found the time to make a public show of support for the King and the Princess of Wales.
‘They may have done so in private, but they are certainly not going out of their way to say they want a reconciliation and this appearance emphasises yet again the different world they now live in.’
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams added: ‘They (Harry and Meghan) are well aware that the Caribbean tour William and Catherine went on which included Jamaica in March 2022 was considered highly problematic.
He continued: ‘This is a difficult period for the monarchy with Catherine in hospital and King Charles about to undergo an operation for an enlarged prostate.
‘The Sussexes have sent good wishes privately. However their appearance in Jamaica clearly sends a message.’
He also said that when Harry and Meghan were senior working members of the Royal Family, they had a ‘very special appeal to the Commonwealth’ and were president and vice-president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Harry was also appointed Commonwealth youth ambassador in 2018.
During his visit to Jamaica in 2012, Harry also hugged and held hands with then-Jamaican prime minister Portia Simpson-Miller just hours after she repeated her intention to hold a referendum to remove Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.
And in 2017, before their November engagement, Harry and Meghan attended the wedding of the Duke’s friend Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip to Lara Hughes-Young.
And Meghan married her first husband Trevor Engelson on a private beach in Jamaica in 2011.
The Sussexes pose at the event last night with Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s minister for legal and constitutional affairs, who said last year that Jamaica could soon ‘sever ties’ with the monarchy, because it was time for the nation’s future to be ‘in Jamaican hands’
Harry and Meghan sit in the theatre in Kingston yesterday as they attend the film premiere
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the red carpet premiere for the Bob Marley film last night
The former Suits star also wrote on her now-defunct lifestyle blog that her mother Doria took her to visit the slums of Jamaica when she was 10 to teach her about the ‘harsh realities’ of life.
Bob Marley died of cancer in 1981, aged 36.
Last night, the smiling Duke and Duchess turned heads as they arrived at the Carib Theatre in Kingston, posing for photos and shaking hands with actors.
Meghan, 42, and Harry, 39, posed with Brian Robbins, the president and chief executive of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, and his wife Tracy James.
This was notable given the Sussexes are searching for new forms of income with their £80million Netflix deal expiring next year and their £15million Spotify contract having ended early last June.
Prince Harry and Meghan with Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness and his wife Juliet
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive at the Carib Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica, last night
The Duke and Duchess with Paramount president Brian Robbins and his wife Tracy James
Harry was seen hugging Ziggy Marley, the 55-year-old musician and son of Bob and Rita Marley, who produced One Love.
The film also showcases British talent, with Londoners Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley and Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley, and James Norton playing producer Chris Blackwell.
Meghan and Harry – who revealed they were stepping down as senior royals in January 2020 – also stood with Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness and his wife Juliet at the premiere.
In March 2022 during a visit by Prince William and Kate, Mr Holness said that Jamaica was ‘moving on’ and embracing its destiny as an independent country, later calling its switch to a republican model ‘inevitable’.
Mr Holness reconfirmed this in March last year, saying Jamaica was ‘moving ahead’ with its plans to get rid of ‘foreign monarch’ Charles as its head of state, adding that ‘ambitious timelines’ were in action to progress towards the ‘road to republic’.
He also announced a constitutional reform committee that will assist in the transition.
Jamaica, which is a former colony of Britain, has begun the process to sever ties with the British monarchy, following in the footsteps of Barbados.
Its history of slavery and a plantation economy made some Britons wealthy but left many Jamaicans impoverished.
Jamaica first came into England’s hands in 1655 when it was seized from Spain, which had brought over the first Africans as slaves.
It gained independence in 1962 but retained the British monarch as head of state and stayed in the Commonwealth.
Waves of immigration to Britain kept the links alive as did an affection for Queen Elizabeth II, who was on the throne at the time of independence.
But even before her death in September 2022, republican sentiment was increasingly gripping the Caribbean region.
Barbados ditched the monarchy in 2021. Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and the Bahamas have all expressed an interest in cutting ties with the British crown, while Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica are already republics.
When he assumed the crown on his mother’s death, Charles became head of state not only of Britain but 14 other realms, including Canada, Australia and Jamaica.
In order to become a republic Jamaica’s Constitution requires a 2/3 majority in both the elected and nominated Houses of Parliament and a simple majority in a general referendum.
However, if it obtains a 2/3 majority in the elected House but only a simple majority in the nominated House it will require a 2/3 majority of the electorate in a referendum.
The Windrush scandal that emerged in 2017, in which hundreds of immigrants to Britain were detained or deported after living there for years, has added to the grievances of those in Jamaica.
During William and Kate’s visit in 2022, protesters held signs during the visit demanding the pair apologise for slavery – and at a formal state dinner, William expressed ‘profound sorrow’.
But he stopped short of a formal apology, as did his father, Charles, who spoke of his ‘personal sorrow at the suffering of so many’ in an address to Commonwealth leaders later that year.
Charles also acknowledged growing republican sentiment in some Commonwealth nations and said it was for them to decide their constitutional arrangements.
About 600,000 Africans were brought to Jamaica as slaves between the 15th and 19th centuries to work on sugar, cotton and banana plantations.
The British government was involved in the Atlantic slave trade and reimbursed plantation owners for the loss of labour that occurred when slavery was outlawed in 1834.
Archewell have been contacted for comment.
