Prince Williamis reaching out to the Caribbean community in the U.K. in a heartfelt speech.
In a groundbreaking address on Wednesday morning, the Duke of Cambridge said that he and wifeKate Middletonare learning how the “past weighs heavily on the present” amid the controversy that followed their recent, often difficult,tour to the Caribbean.
Applauding the contribution of the British-Caribbean communities on Windrush Day,Prince Williamsaid, “My family have been proud to celebrate this for decades — whether that be through support from my father on Windrush Day, or more recently during my grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee, as people from all communities and backgrounds came together to acknowledge all that has changed over the past seventy years and look to the future.”
“This is something that resonated with Catherine and me after our visit to the Caribbean earlier this year,” he continued. “Our trip was an opportunity to reflect, and we learnt so much. Not just about the different issues that matter most to the people of the region, but also how the past weighs heavily on the present.”
Kate Middleton and Prince William at the unveiling of the Windrush memorial.John Sibley - WPA Pool/Getty Images
The couple’s visit to the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station on Wednesday comes months after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s controversial royal tour of the Caribbean in March. For the first time, the royal couple facedsignificant backlashon an official tour, having encountered mounting tensions in the Caribbean nations where William’s grandmotherQueen Elizabethremains head of state.
The protests are only the latest evidence of the historic shift underway: another Caribbean country, Barbados, broke ties with the Queen in November and voted in its first president, andJamaica will soon follow suit.
Prince William and Kate Middleton.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
William reflected on the future governance of the Caribbean nations in a statement at the end of their March tour, saying, “I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future. In Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon.”
Prince William making his speech at the Windrush Monument.John Sibley - WPA Pool/Getty Images
The National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station was designed to symbolize the courage, commitment and resilience of the generation of British-Caribbean people.
John Sibley - WPA Pool/Getty Images
He praised the diversity that is “so important to our country” and paid tribute to the Caribbean workers, many of whom came to Britain to help staff the bus and subway and transport systems in London and in other cities or work in the burgeoning post-war car industry around the country. They “made our culture richer, our services stronger and our fellow countrymen safer,” he said.
“Although it is not where the passengers of the Empire Windrush first arrived, subsequently many thousands of Caribbean people did pass through Waterloo and dispersed to cities across the U.K. So the placement of the monument here is an acknowledgement of the contribution of those people to one of the most important elements of our national infrastructure.”
“Just down the road, in St. Thomas’s Hospital, we can reflect on the Windrush Generation’s huge contribution to the NHS, a service founded only two weeks after the Empire Windrush docked in 1948. Since then, over 40,000 Windrush and Commonwealth nurses and midwives have cared for those in need.”
And he added that the contribution to Britain begun even earlier. “When the Windrush Generation sailed from the Caribbean to rebuild war torn Britain, they did so as British citizens, answering a plea to help our country thrive again,” William said.
“These people didn’t have to come. They volunteered to fight for King and country — in the full knowledge that many would never make it home again.”
“Many of them were not strangers to these shores. In the decade before 1948, thousands served in the RAF, either flying, navigating or as ground crew keeping our squadrons airborne — including Allan Wilmot, the eldest Windrush pioneer whose family are with us today.”
“As one of the inheritors of that great military tradition I understand how much we owe to these men and women. Today’s ceremony would not be complete without remembering their sacrifice.”
Kate Middleton at ELEVATE in Brixton, London.Eddie Mulholland/AP/Shutterstock
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge started their day in Brixton in South London to immerse themselves in the culture and experience of young British-Caribbean people. They visited ELEVATE, which creates a thriving dynamic and diverse cultural environment for younger generations in the community. The couple met with young people taking part in a film and photography workshop before they sat down for a chat about the participants' hopes and aspirations for the future.
ELEVATE encourages clear pathways from the early years to adulthood to support young people and help them access successful careers in the cultural industries.
Kate Middleton.John Sibley - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Then the couple attended the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station.
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As the memorial was unveiled,Queen Elizabethsent a message, saying it “serves as a fitting thank you to the Windrush pioneers and their descendants, in recognition of the profound contribution they have made to the United Kingdom over the decades.”
source: people.com
