Repeating Islands

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip flew to Bermuda Tuesday to join in three days of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the island’s settlement by the British, Buckingham Palace said. The royal couple would attend cultural events and a church service before travelling on to Trinidad and Tobago for the biennial conference of Commonwealth leaders later this week.

The queen, 83, will officially open the informal meeting of Commonwealth heads of states to discuss global political and economic issues.

Her visit to Bermuda comes 56 years to the day since she first travelled to the island on November 24, 1953 – just five months after her coronation.

In Bermuda, royal fever was in full force. After six months of meticulous behind-the-scenes planning, the island declared itself ready to welcome the Queen. The three-day tour to mark the island’s 400th anniversary included King’s Square, the Town Hall and King’s Square in St. George’s and the Clocktower, Commissioner’s House and the Spirit of Bermuda in Dockyard. The royals attended a 400th anniversary service at the Cathedral, planted a tree at Government House and attended a state dinner at Tucker’s Point.
Joanna Cranfield, assistant manager of business development at WEDCO, said the royal visit was the culmination of about six months of top-secret planning. She said: “It’s been a lot of work – tweaking, chasing, planning and preparing. Trying to organise so many children had been the greatest challenge – we’ve had to get them to do rehearsals when they had not known what they were rehearsing for.  Up until now it had been on a need to know basis. But everything has gone very smoothly and now we are all prepared.”
At the Clocktower Building, the Queen was be treated to a traditional Bermudian wedding reception, a presentation on apprentices trained at Dockyard and a dramatised history of Dockyard, all carried out by pupils from Sandys Middle School. Ms Cranfield said: “We’re delighted she visited Dockyard as it is not only Bermuda’s 400th anniversary but Dockyard’s 200th anniversary. It’s very exciting.”
The Bermuda Regiment ordered its 600 soldiers of all ranks to be on-island to help with “different stages of the visit”. Public Relations Officer Major George Jones said most soldiers would be involved “in the first 24 hours” as the Queen arrived and traveled around St. George’s.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were welcomed with a Quarter Guard at the airport then received an Honour Guard at St. George’s.
Meanwhile, St. Vincent and the Grenadines decides tomorrow whether to remove Queen Elizabeth II as their official head of state, just a day after the Queen’s arrival on her visit to the region. St. Vincent votes Wednesday in a referendum on a new constitution to replace the one in place since gaining independence from Britain in 1979. The new constitution would create a president nominated by the two political parties among other changes. Both parties agree on ousting the queen but disagree on other aspects of the document. The referendum requires a two-thirds vote for passage.