Government
Where the Royals roamed in their Turks & Caicos Official Visit
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, February 28, 2023 – An exciting Royal visit the past week began with Members of the Royal Family, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie landing at the J.A.G.S. McCartney International Airport around 5 PM Wednesday, February 22nd to a moderate crowd of onlookers and a significant number of the country’s security personnel including the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force, The Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment, His Majesty’s Prison and the Cadets, dressed to the nines for an honour guard.
The Royals were met by Governor Nigel Dakin and though parliamentarians were in attendance, it was the people of
Countess Sophie was presented with a bouquet by one of the Turks and Caicos‘ school girls and chatted animatedly with the locals along with her husband as the sun set behind them.
They moved on to an evening of culture and excitement held at Waterloo, where they had the chance to speak with the Governor’s invited guests including the TCI Youth Parliament, House of Assembly, Permanent Secretaries and District Commissioners.
Also represented were churches, civic groups, educators, media, culture and the arts, Constitutional Statutory Bodies, Chevening Scholars, Tourism, uniformed services, and local heroes, “particularly from the pandemic and those who recently saved four lives, after their aircraft crashed in international waters,” said Dakin.
The Prince, a lover of the theatre, witnessed presentations from the Turks and Caicos’ youth including ‘rake and scrape’.
The Royals moved to Providenciales next, and the Earl headed to the Edward Gartland Youth Centre where he got the opportunity to see and speak with Representatives of ‘100 Black Men’ and ‘Boys to Men’.
Over 500 hundred children were waiting to meet him at his next stop, the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Centre where he then witnessed the Royal Cup High School All-Star Basketball game featuring two teams, made up of the top 24 young men from schools all across the island separated into east and west conferences.
He was treated to cultural presentations between halves from the students at the Louise Garland Thomas School Choir, and the Thelma Lightbourne Primary School decked out in white. The Prince also met the country’s sporting stalwarts including the TCI’s 1st Olympian Delano Williams, the country’s 2022 Commonwealth Game athletes and more.
The Royal seemed keen to do it and awarded the ‘Royal Cup’ to the winning East team with representatives in an All-Star line up from HJ Robinson High School, Elite High School, Louise Garland-Thomas High School, Wesleyan Methodist High School and Marjorie Basden High School. The team are now recorded in history as the first winners of the event.
Earl of Wessex gave remarks and a recommendation, “What an absolutely fantastic result and fantastic support,” he gushed, thanking the coaches for putting together the teams, with only two practices to create what he described as ‘a fantastic display of basketball’.
He suggested that the Royal Cup become a new TCI tradition.
Prince Edward was presented a keepsake for his time with the youngsters; a Turks and Caicos minted coin and a pin from the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 as a gift.
The youngest of the late Queen’s children, the Earl met with TCI’s uniformed services and was briefed about challenges affecting the country, including disaster management, and irregular migration. He was also witness to a drill demonstration by the Turks and Caicos Regiment Cadets.
While this was happening the Countess was being introduced to the Turks, and Caicos’ natural beauty and spectacular environment. Thanks to environmental specialists and representatives from the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources she saw firsthand the country’s mangroves, iguana species, and barrier reefs and got an introduction to the country’s sealife via brand-new underwater cameras.
After that, she also spent some time with local trailblazing women and girls including Arielle Neely, CARICOM Youth Ambassador and Chelsea Been, TCI Junior Minister of Tourism. We are told that a mentoring program for young women was launched at the event.
The Royal couple were reunited and moved on to a luncheon hosted by Washington Misick, TCI Premier with representatives from the areas of youth empowerment; business and technology; sports, fitness and wellness; arts and media; community organizations and criminal justice reform.
After lunch ended a packed visit, the Royals took their leave flying out from the Providenciales International Airport to The Bahamas, where they attended the Governor General’s Youth Award ceremony.