The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting a church in the Bahamas that has been rebuilt after it was destroyed during Hurricane Dorian in 2019 as their Caribbean tour comes to a close.
The couple were all smiles as they left their hotel this morning on their way to the church Abaco – a chain of islands in the northern Bahamas which was dramatically hit by Hurricane Dorian with winds of up to 185mph and left devastation in its wake.
It damaged 75 percent of homes across the chain of islands and resulted in tragic loss of life. Prince William and Kate will travel to Abaco’s main island to learn about the impact of the hurricane and to see how communities are still being rebuilt more than two years on.
It comes as Prince William delivered a speech in which he said he insisted that any decision by Jamaica, Belize and The Bahamas to break away from the British monarchy and become republics will be supported with ‘pride and respect’ in a landmark speech alongside his wife Kate at a glittering state reception.
Today, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the Daystar Evangelical Church which suffered terrible damage during Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
During their visit, on the final day of their Caribbean tour, they heard first-hand what it was like to be on the island at the point the hurricane hit and how people have come together to support each other during an incredibly difficult time.
The Cambridges then moved on to pay their respects to the victims of Hurricane Dorian by laying a wreath at Abaco’s Memorial Wall. Kate opted for a £254 pink midi gown by much-loved brand Rixo for the occasion, which featured a button-down collar and subtle animal print design.
She paired the shirt dress with a matching £370 clutch bag by Emmy London and £160 wedge heels by Spanish brand Castañer.
Their final stop on the island of Abaco saw The Duke and Duchess visit a Fish Fry – a quintessentially Bahamian culinary gathering place which is found on every island in The Bahamas.
They met vendors who prepared a taste of Bahamian cuisine, including the local favourites – conch salad.
Pastor Mills pointed to the place where one of the church’s historic buildings had once stood, explaining how it been completely destroyed.
‘We had three buildings on this property that survived many, many hurricanes going back to hurricane Betsy of 1965, Hurricane Floyd of 1999,’ he said ahead of the royals’ arrival.
‘But the facility was no match for hurricane Dorian. It was a Category Five monster storm that had waves crashing the roof of this building. The water was very much up to the ceiling in here.
‘It washed everything out and it just destroyed so much history that was here. The building that was here was built in 1952. It was a wooden building built out of Abaco pine, and we kept it here and remodelled it to maintain its historic values, but Dorian swept it off its foundation.’
Residents were locked down for months, he said, and the NGOs could not get in because of flooding, and later, the pandemic, severely delaying recovery efforts.
PastorMills said some members of the community remained displaced, two-and-a-half years later.
‘It’s been difficult,’ he added. ‘And some people have been traumatised to the extent that they’re still seeing doctors.’
The church building remains unusable, with windows still blown out and chunks of concrete wall missing.
Pastor Mills said they did not have the insurance needed to rebuild and that the focus has been on helping those who had lost their homes.
They are now looking to donors to rebuild the church so it can be used by the community.
Pastor Mills said it still ‘felt like a dream’ to have the Duke and Duchess visit.
‘The fact that they would want to come to a place that provides spiritual guidance and a place where people come to pray speaks volumes of their concern for humanity,’ he said.
Among those who met the royal couple were Ian Fair 74, a private banker from Somerset, and his partner Deborah Jones-holt 49, from Yorkshire.
Mr Fair, a founding chairman of the Bahamian stock exchange, came to the Bahamas in 1969 on a two year work contract and never left.
He presented the church with a $15,000 donation that will be used to refurbish the inside.
Mr Fair, whose two sons-in-law were on Abaco when the hurricane hit, said he believed it had set the island back 25 years.
Yesterday, Prince William and Kate greeted crowds and local fishermen as they walked along Montagu Bay in New Providence on the final stop of their Caribbean tour to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The sailing regattas in The Bahamas is one of the first that has taken place since the start of the Covid pandemic and both William and Kate pitched in as they raced each other in separate yachts.
In a video shared on their Instagram, the couple thanked the teams for their hospitality and for enduring the poor weather.
In the choppy waters, the duke sailed to victory in a race against Kate today during a rain-affected regatta in The Bahamas to celebrate the Queen’s jubilee.
William set sail in an iconic Bahamian sloop named the Susan Chase, whilst Kate boarded a vessel named the Ants Nest II. She also sported a white cap once she was on board with her crew mates that had the boat’s name on in red writing.
His boat came in about five minutes ahead of four others including one featuring the Duchess of Cambridge, who suffered the ignominy of coming in last with her crew.
It was a second consecutive victory for William, who beat his wife in the King’s Cup charity regatta off the Isle of Wight in 2019 when they last raced on the water. On that occasion her boat was disqualified.
Kate triumphed when the ultra competitive couple raced yachts in New Zealand in 2014.
Earlier, Kate was pictured holding a newborn baby during a royal walkabout with Prince William as the couple continued their protest-hit tour of the Caribbean with a visit to a school in the Bahamas amid torrential downpours.
The royal couple greeted crowds who gathered in Parliament Square before attending the colourful Junkanoo Carnival in Nassau to celebrate the monarch’s Platinum Jubilee alongside the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, and his wife Ann-Marie.
Kate was pictured speaking to a mother in the crowd and cradling her baby’s head before the iconic street parade, which featured locals wearing colourful costumes and dancing to music.
It comes as Prince William signalled that any decision by Jamaica, Belize and The Bahamas to break away from the British monarchy and become republics will be supported with ‘pride and respect’ in a landmark speech alongside his wife Kate at a glittering state reception.
On the sixth day of their tour of the Caribbean yesterday, the future king said the Royal Family ‘respect the decisions’ of countries like The Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize when it comes to their future in a nod to the critical ‘colonialism’ commentary and protests that accompanied welcoming crowds.
Since beginning their tour to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Cambridges were greeted like rock stars by the public – but politicians, including the prime minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, used meetings to make clear in public they will push for the island to be a republic with a referendum this year. Critical royal observers led by by Meghan’s cheerleader-in-chief Omid Scobie and BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond made claims of a series of ‘tone deaf’ PR moments that smacked of ‘colonialism’ – leading to more social media criticism despite the couple’s warm welcome on the ground.
Speaking at the black-tie reception hosted by the Governor General of the Bahamas, Sir Cornelius Alvin Smith, William said: ‘Next year, I know you are all looking forward to celebrating 50 years of independence – your Golden Anniversary.
‘And with Jamaica celebrating 60 years of independence this year, and Belize celebrating 40 years of independence last year, I want to say this: We support with pride and respect your decisions about your future.
‘Relationships evolve. Friendship endures.’
At the evening reception, the Duchess of Cambridge stepped out in a stunning Grace-Kelly style gown that looked worlds away from this afternoon’s wet yachting regatta.
They received one of the warmest welcomes of their tour as they mingled with eminent Bahamians from the fields of culture, law, religion, business, medicine and politics.
Before they left William and Kate were presented with a model of a sloop sailing boat similar to the one they sailed on earlier in the day. The roses on the dress of guest Mildred Murphy caught Kate’s eye and she complimented her. ‘She said I looked amazing and I said the roses were for the flower of England. She said she loved visiting the school today and said how well the children behaved and how nice it was for her to have that experience.’