‘The View’ Highlights Backlash To Prince William, Kate Middleton’s Royal Tour Of Jamaica: “Make Reparations”

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been forced to cancel recent stops on their Caribbean good will tour, as Jamaican protestors call on royals to redefine their relationship with the island and make reparations for their colonial past. That thorny topic led to some spirited debates on today’s episode of The View, as the ABC talk show’s hosts pondered what these protests could spell for the US.

“There’s a whole list of places that need to go on that list!” Whoopi Goldberg exclaimed, to which Sunny Hostin replied, “Starting with the United States of America… We built this joint for free.”

“How ’bout Puerto Rico?” Goldberg replied.

Hostin asserted that the US “bankrupted” Puerto Rico and “owe my family some money.”

She also called out the royals for making the PR decision to describe the current good will tour as a “charm offensive,” citing one of the main sources of their wealth: their company Royal Adventures in Africa, through which the royals transported approximately 90,000 slaves to British-owned plantations in the Caribbean. When slavery in Britain was abolished in 1834, they took out the modern equivalent of a $21 billion public loan to pay slave owners back, meaning British citizens were forced to pay it off.

“So Black people living in Britain paid reparations to slave owners,” Hostin explained. “They owe them money.”

As Goldberg noted, the effects of colonization have impacted people of color across Britain, such as British-Indians and other Caribbean communities.

“I expect Charles, when he was in Barbados, had some idea,” she pointed out. “Because he went on and apologized as he was releasing the hold that Britain has. So perhaps somebody’s listening, and it’s the new group of folks… Charles or William — one of them.”

Guest host Lindsey Granger guessed that Prince William wouldn’t be the one to change things, noting his rather rash response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s landmark 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. Instead, she argued, communities affected by colonialism need to feel seen.

“Seen and heard. That’s the minimum,” Granger said. “The royal family paying them back probably ain’t happening. Start with seeing and hearing them.”

As Sara Haines put it, “[The fascination with royalty is] symbolic. They don’t have power anymore… They’re applauded, and they wanna keep the fancy clothes, but not the dirty laundry.”

Meanwhile, Joy Behar drew parallels between the US and UK’s struggles to own up to their dark histories.

“Look at what we’re in the middle of. [The US hasn’t] paid reparations to Native Americans,” she said. “It’s not gonna happen so fast… People don’t wanna admit that they did something wrong.”

“It’s only taken 400 years,” Hostin added.

“And around the world!” Behar replied. “I mean, the list is enormous.”

Goldberg concluded that the entire issue boils down to education reform: “[When] people realize, and start reading their history and learning the history of other countries, maybe we can all get together and say, ‘Let’s figure out how to never do this again.'”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.

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