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Jamaican PM calls for compensation from UK ahead of Prince Harry's visit
(March 06, 2012)Jamaica's prime minister has hinted that Britain might want to pay her country compensation for the "wicked and brutal" years of slavery in the days of Empire as she prepares to host Prince Harry on the latest leg of his Caribbean tour.
6:34AM GMT 06 Mar 2012
Portia Simpson Miller said that if Britain wanted to apologise for slavery it would be "fine with us" and repeated her view that the Queen should be removed as head of state of the Commonwealth realm.
In an interview with the BBC recorded hours before Prince Harry touched down at Kingston's Normal Manley Airport, Mrs Simpson Miller chose the four-day Diamond Jubilee visit to highlight the way her forebears had been wronged by the British.
"No race should have been subjected to what out ancestors were subjected to," she said. "It was wicked and brutal.
"We gained our freedom through the sweat, blood and tears of our ancestors and we are now free.
"If Britain wishes to apologise, fine with us, no problem at all."
The newly-elected premier was also asked whether Britain should pay compensation to Jamaica for using hundreds of thousands of slaves to work on plantations between the 17th and 19th centuries, and replied: "Whether Britain will be able to pay compensation I don't know. We have heard the calls, but I'm not making any calls on the British Government."
The 27 year old Prince, who was welcomed by a 21-gun salute as his private jet landed in Kingston last night for the final leg of his tour of Commonwealth realms in the Caribbean, found himself walking into a diplomatic minefield as a result of Mrs Simpson Miller's comments.
Fifty years after Jamaica gained independence Mrs Simpson Miller returned to the theme of slavery to ram home her argument for the country to become a republic.
"We came on a long journey, from slavery to adult suffrage to our independence," she said.
"We are a nation where our maturity is now saying we should look to a form of government which at this time would take full charge of our destiny."
Asked when she might call a referendum on removing the Queen as head of state, she said: "I don't know how long it will take. We are looking at it seriously and we are going to be addressing this area of government.
"I'm not going to give any time frame. We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary in August, so for us to be looking at changes now, is an appropriate time in our history."
So will Prince Harry's visit be the final visit by a member of the Royal family as a representative of the head of state?
"I'm not going to say that," she said. "Even if the Queen does not remain head of state the Queen at any time will be welcome to visit.
"It's not about getting rid of the Queen – who could get rid of the Queen? She is a wonderful, beautiful lady. The decision to become a republic shouldn't be taken in the context of us wanting to get rid of the Queen."
Prince Harry will meet and shake hands with Mrs Simpson Miller today at a lunch reception in Kingston. He will then meet her again when he proposes one of the toasts at a state banquet this evening.
Before that he is due to meet the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, when he visits the track where the 100m record holder trains.