Prince Charles, Camilla to visit

Nearly 50 years after stepping foot on Barbadian soil, the heir to the throne is to visit for one day in March as part of a Caribbean tour, the Government has announced.

During the March 19th visit, Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are to take part in a parade and lay wreaths at the Cenotaph in National Heroes Square and attend a reception “with a cross-section of Barbadians,” the Government said.

It was in October 1970, a year after being formally invested with the royal title of Prince of Wales, that Queen Elizabeth’s son and heir, aged 21, during his visit here opened the National Stadium at Waterford and went snorkelling.   

This time around, at age 70, he is scheduled to visit the 365-year-old Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown, one of the oldest in the western hemipshere.

His Royal Highness, who saw first-hand the devastation of Barbuda following Hurricane Irma in 2018, is to observe a demonstration of the nation’s hurricane preparedness system and meet first responder teams.

The statement added: “He will learn more about the work of the Prince’s Trust International on the island, a charity which he founded in 1976, and meet some of the beneficiaries.”

Camilla who is president of the Women of the World Festival, is due to attend an event for “Barbadian women of influence” and visit the Derrick Smith School and Vocational Centre and the Maria Holder Diabetes Centre.

Commenting on the upcoming visit, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said: “We welcome this visit by Their Royal Highnesses to our home. It serves to buttress the relationship that we have as a member of the Commonwealth, of which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the head. Indeed, it demonstrates the continued links the Royal Family has maintained with Barbados over the years.

“Quite recently, we had the visit by his Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales on the occasion of the island’s 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebrations.

“However, none stands out more, in my mind, than that iconic moment in 1975 when Her Majesty The Queen visited Barbados to bestow a knighthood on our only living National Hero, the Right Excellent Sir Garfield St. Auburn Sobers.”

During the Caribbean tour,  the Prince of Wales and the Duchess will also visit St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Cuba and the Cayman Islands.