Holness responds to British media backlash from Harry and Meghan's visit

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has shrugged off criticisms in the British media about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle “hobnobbing” with him during their attendance of the global premiere of the Bob Marley: One Love film last Monday as merely “more publicity for Jamaica.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared lens time with Holness, members of his administration and local and international celebrities. But the British media was swift, with MailOnline labelling Harry as “insensitive” for posing with Jamaica's “anti-royalist” prime minister. 

The “anti-royalist” label was a reference to Holness' message to Harry's brother, Prince William, during a 2022 tour of the Caribbean that Jamaica is “moving on” from its current system of government with the King as head of state, replacing it with a republican system of government.

Another British commentator described Harry and Meghan's visit to Jamaica as “tone deaf” coming “the very week” King Charles was hospitalised with an undisclosed illness and given the stated intention of the Holness administration.

But speaking at the official launch of the Jamaica Screen Development Initiative, a $1 billion financing programme which aims to support and strengthen the local screen based-industries earlier today, Holness, while stating that he was elated to attend the premiere of the biopic of Bob Marley, expressed surprise that he was drawn into the “internal issues of the United Kingdom”. 

“I was pleased, and I was also very happy to see royals coming to participate in this major event. Unsuspecting…little did I know that I'd be drawn into some internal issues in the United Kingdom, but so it is, more publicity for Jamaica,” he said, amid chuckles. 

Sharing that he also went on the production set of the film, the Prime Minister said his interactions with cast members showed that they were enamoured with Jamaican culture. 

“I had the opportunity to meet the actors and they were all very taken with Jamaica, it was like coming home for them, and making connections with Jamaica and Jamaica's impact on the world, and with Bob Marley and what Bob Marley represents,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Holness noted that this investment in Jamaica's screen-based industry will not only yield significant economic benefits, but its development will also have cultural benefits. 

-Sashana Small 

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