Their Royal Highnesses, the Earl and Countess of Wessex
Their Royal Highnesses, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, were to arrive on Montserrat 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 2, 2012 as part of a part of a global tour to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
They arrive aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Fort Rosalie at the Little Bay Port, a formal greeting will be held for the Royal Couple, following which they would inspect a Guard of Honour, comprising members of The Royal Montserrat Defence Force, members of The Royal Montserrat Police Service and Montserrat Secondary School Cadet Corps.
Following the inspection they will drive to Government House for an Investiture ceremony for Mrs Oeslyn Jemmotte who was earlier this year awarded the MBE for her services to Education and the Girl Guide movement.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex will also visit St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Montserrat, and St Vincent and the Grenadines as part of the tour.
Editor’s note:
TMR excluded from main events referred to as private:
The Montserrat Reporter will not report any further on the Prince’s visit as this medium was excluded from some main events to which the general public is not invited. Such as that referred to as the luncheon, reserved for invitees of the Premier at the Cultural Centre.
TMR’s objection to the exclusion was clearly stated to the Governor’s office, of the fact that the Prince will deliver a message from the Queen, and absolutely no interest in a luncheon. The Premier obviously invites whom he pleases, TMR was told it must rely on ‘official’ photographers who we would have to buy photos from. The opportunity to shoot video as well as recording live the speech, completely discounted.
The next exclusion was for the couple’s visit to the MVO from where they were to take a helicopter tour of the ravaged south. Again TMR must access photos from the local official photographer.
As has been the habit in recent years, no invitation extended to TMR to witness and cover the investiture of Queen’s awards.
Recently we wrote of the marginalisation and what appears to be an attempt to see the demise of the local print media and television. (See the Editorial section at www.themontserratreporter.com.)
