By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge soaked in Junkanoo and greeted admirers Friday afternoon during a trip to Parliament Square.

Intermittent rain, which threatened to spoil the event, did not stop a crowd of mostly tourists from seeing Prince William and Kate Middleton as the celebration of the Queen’s 70th Jubilee brought them Downtown, following their visit to Sybil Strachan Primary School.

Barricades lined Bay Street for their arrival and spectators who waited hours for them were entertained by some of the country’s best known bands: the Bahamas Allstars Marching Band, the Royal Bahamas Police Force band and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force band.

Few Bahamians attended the event. One who did, nurse Alkithia Colebroke, said she will “always” remember talking to the Duke as he walked past the House of Assembly and spoke to several of those assembled.

“I had a chance to talk to the Duke,” she said. “He asked me who I was, where I worked. I’m a nurse and he asked me how Covid was. I told him everything is on the go down now, everything is going good. He said that sounds great.”

The arrival of the Royals downtown was considerably behind schedule. Two American residents of Kentucky, Tim and Mixie, were among dozens who waited a long time for them to appear but missed them because they were standing on the wrong side of the street. The pair said they wished there had been better communication around the event, which they only stumbled upon after their arrival in the Bahamas on Thursday.

The tour has already sparked debates about whether the Royals, who come from a privileged family with a colourful legacy, including the world’s history of slavery and colonialisation, should be welcomed at all.

For Bahamian Jerry Colebroke, the answer was easy. “I'm a fan,” he said, adding he had no complaints about the delay or the rain despite arriving well before Prince William and Kate. "I came here for what they had. The rain, it’s only water. It was an excellent event. I haven’t heard Junkanoo in so long, that was the most we’ve had in a long time and I was glad to be here for it.”

Later on Friday, the Duke and Duchess attended the Governor General's Reception at the Baha Mar Convention Centre.