'So dear to you, and to us'
SUNSHINE and smiles were what was required, and both the day, and King Charles and Queen Camilla, delivered to delight the thousands of islanders who turned out to see a first visit from a reigning monarch to the Bailiwick for nearly 20 years.
A carefully curated package put together for the day had aimed to showcase what is best and most unique about island life in this dependency of the Crown, and did so in the best possible fashion.
And from the most to the least formal, those congregating on the town seafront, further inland in town, Cambridge Park and Les Cotils, paid homage to the King and Queen in their own way, and were met with genuine interest from Their Majesties.
Once again, Guernsey came out to do its best when the eyes of many were upon us, and we can take pride today of our special position as being one of the oldest possessions of the Crown.
It is important that we should, as the Bailiff said in his address, be seen as ‘this portion of the ancient Duchy of Normandy which is so dear to you and to us’.
We can work on our relationships with here today, gone tomorrow, politicians, but will also be vulnerable to being expendable.
Our relationship with the Crown is still important and very much valued, as was so fulsomely demonstrated yesterday.