The anti-royal Jamaican MP who posed with Harry and Meghan: How republican supporting minister who wants to ‘say goodbye’ to the monarchy was hit with furious backlash after branding the flying of LGBT flag in Jamaica as ‘disrespectful’

A Jamaican MP who posed with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at a film premiere this week warned just months ago that it was ‘time to say goodbye’ to the monarchy. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined Marlene Malahoo Forte, minister for legal and constitutional affairs, in Kingston to promote new Bob Marley movie One Love.

It comes eight months after Mrs Forte said Jamaica could ‘sever ties’ with Britain’s monarchy by the end of 2024 and the nation’s future should be ‘in Jamaican hands’.

She also criticised the Royal Family‘s ‘own set of issues internally’, said Jamaicans in the UK had suffered from ‘racist’ policies and claimed that people in her country ‘do not identify with King Charles – he is as foreign as it gets to us, plain and simple’.

And back in June 2016, Mrs Forte also hit the headlines when she criticised the US Embassy in Jamaica for flying a rainbow flag following the deadly mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida – saying it was ‘disrespectful of Jamaica’s laws’.

But her post on Twitter – which was later removed – received a huge backlash online, including from the US Embassy itself which replied: ‘We’re listening. Explain the legal reasoning? It was an attack of terror !!and!! hate, targeting the LGBT community.’

After her appearance on the red carpet with Harry and Meghan on Tuesday night, Mrs Forte later tweeted a photo of the trio, 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!

She also met Prince William and Kate during their visit in March 2022, saying at the time that they were both ‘very charming and extremely delightful to interact with’.

The Sussexes pose in Kingston on Tuesday 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’

Ms Forte tweeted a photo of her with Harry and Meghan, 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 then responded, saying: ‘This is #OneLove!’

Marlene Malahoo Forte met Prince William and Kate during their visit in March 2022, saying at the time that they were both ‘very charming and extremely delightful to interact with’

During Harry and Meghan’s surprise appearance on Tuesday night, they were also photographed with Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness, who is pushing ahead with plans to make the nation a republic.

He told the now-Prince and Princess of Wales during their 2022 tour that his country is ‘moving on’ and intends to ‘fulfil our true ambitions and destiny as an independent, developed, prosperous country’.

Also at the time of that trip, Mrs Forte tweeted a picture of her meeting William and Kate, saying: ‘#RoyalVisitJamaica HRH the #DukeofCambridge asked me what my work involved as Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. 

‘I will say this much: I found them both very charming and extremely delightful to interact with.’

Last May, Mrs Forte told Sky News ahead of the King’s Coronation that an ‘urgent’ referendum could be held as early as 2024 to ‘sever ties’ and remove Charles as Jamaica’s monarch.

She claimed that republicanism is ‘about us saying goodbye to a form of government that is linked to a painful past of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade’.

Mrs Forte said in an interview with Sky News in May 2023 that Jamaica could ‘sever ties’ with Britain’s monarchy by the end of 2024 and the nation’s future should be ‘in Jamaican hands’

During the May 2023 interview with Sky News, Mrs Forte criticised the Royal Family’s ‘own set of issues internally’, said Jamaicans in the UK had suffered from ‘racist’ policies and claimed that people in her country ‘do not identify with King Charles – he is as foreign as it gets to us’

Mrs Forte said Jamaica was looking to write a new constitution, adding: ‘The people of Jamaica are saying the time has come. Jamaica in Jamaican hands.

‘We have to get it done, especially with the transition in the monarchy. My government is saying we have to do it now. Time to say goodbye.’

The former attorney general said: ‘A lot of Jamaicans had warm affection and identified with Queen Elizabeth II. 

‘When Jamaica became independent, Queen Elizabeth was already on the throne.

‘But they do not identify with King Charles. He is as foreign as it gets to us. Plain and simple.’

Mrs Forte also said Jamaica’s desire was partially influenced by the Royal Family’s ‘own set of issues internally’ – adding that these ‘issues’ had been ‘playing out in the news’.

And she said William’s acknowledgment of slavery but lack of apology during the 2022 tour was ‘a step in the right direction, but not far enough at all’.

In June 2016, Mrs Forte also hit the headlines when she criticised the US Embassy in Jamaica for flying a rainbow flag following the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida – saying it was ‘disrespectful of Jamaica’s laws’. This tweet from the embassy at the time shows the flag

Mrs Forte’s post – which was later removed – received a backlash online, including from the US Embassy itself which replied: ‘We’re listening. Explain the legal reasoning? It was an attack of terror !!and!! hate, targeting the LGBT community’

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. 

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.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and his wife Juliet on Tuesday for the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love at the Carib Theatre in Kingston

Mrs Forte told Sky News: ‘Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom have experienced the worst of policies that can be regarded as racist. 

‘Windrush was personal for our people. Personal. Many [affected] are our families, our friends, our people.

‘Unfortunately, the UK government got it so wrong. For people who went there to build up the wealth [of Britain]. The policies are racist and unjust – by virtue of nationality, ethnic background, and the colour of your skin. It’s just not right.’

Mrs Forte became minister of legal and constitutional affairs in January 2022, having previously served as attorney general, health minister and foreign affairs minister.

She has studied in both Britain and the US – gaining a law master’s degree from King’s College London as well as a master’s in public administration from Harvard.

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.

The duke and duchess with Paramount president Brian Robbins and his wife Tracy James

Harry and Meghan sit in the theatre in Kingston on Tuesday as they attend the film premiere 

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.

Prince Harry and Meghan with Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness and his wife Juliet

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.

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.