His Excellency Governor Adrian Davis told press members on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at his monthly press conference – usually held every second Wednesday, that Prince Edward and his wife Sophie (the Earl and Countess of Wessex) will visit Montserrat on Friday, March 2, 2012 and will arrive and depart by sea.
Prince Edward is the Queen’s third son and last child and is married to Sophie, the Countess of Wessex. They have two children.
The visit will be part of a global tour to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. H.E was responding to a request by ZJB’s Executive Producer, Mr. James White Jr. for more information to what was released from Buckingham Palace about the Diamond Jubilee.
The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II is the forthcoming international celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne of seven countries, on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. She celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25 years) in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee (50 years) in 2002.
In British History, the only other Monarch to achieve a reign of 60 years was Queen Victoria (1819-1901) who reigned as Queen of the UK and Ireland for a total of 63 years. As it appears Queen Elizabeth II seems set to overtake that record.
Prince Edward, The Earl and Sophie, Countess of Wessex will also visit Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Governor said there was a general programme in the UK to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. “We will be discussing more specifics of the Royal visit and the general programme with the Premier’s office and hopefully announcing that…” he said.
H.E said the lighting of beacon is one aspect of the celebration in which Montserrat should participate in. “One in particular that I am very interested in and I think we should do, that doesn’t have any cost implications… is the lighting up of beacons across the commonwealth. I think we ought to have a Montserrat beacon,” he said adding that the Governor’s Office in conjunction with the Premier’s Office will release a programme.
Britain has a long history of beacon lighting spanning many hundreds of years. A beacon chain, once used as a tool for communication, has now become a symbol of unity across towns, borders, countries and continents and is often the central point of focus for any outdoor gathering or celebration.
The release from Buckingham Palace further revealed that Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will not be undertaking any overseas trips. Instead they will focus on the United Kingdom region. They will visit Wales, Scotland, the Midlands and East Anglia, the four corners of England as well as London. These visits will take place beginning in March and ending in July, whilst the Queen and Prince Philip are also performing their regular engagements.
