Royalty takes priority.
Introduction
I must admit I knew very little about Prince Edward until an announcement was made of his scheduled trip the Turks and Caicos Islands. He does not seem to be as popular as other members of the Monarchy, however, because he is a member of the Royal family, we went out of our way to accommodate him and his wife. I don’t know the reason for his visit, I don’t know who paid for it and how much was paid but I got a feeling that he was invited to the Turks and Caicos Islands especially when many of us expressed concerns about how Prince William and his wife visited independent countries but did not visit the overseas territories.
The visit of Prince Edward and his wife was a confirmation to many things, and this is what this article is about. Some may say why waste your time and energy to talk about this, however, we must not remain quiet on anything that bothers you. Furthermore, this article is to provoke some thoughts on why we do some of the things we do.
Cleaning of the streets
I have already mentioned in a previous article on how we cleaned the streets in preparation for this visit, yet we do not do the same for our 40,000 residents, for our 400,000 tourists that arrive by air and for our 1,000,000 tourists that arrive by the cruise. What message is this portraying? The message is clear that Royalty takes priority.
Finding the time
People found the time to attend the events that were catered for Prince Edward and his wife. In fact, some people flew from the others islands to Grand Turk to attend the cocktail event. How many of these same people will go to the Grand Turk for JAGS McCartney Day, our first and only named national Hero? How many of us will attend Heritage Day events? How many of us will attend National Youth Day? Speaking about National Youth Day, it appears tons of students were out to see the Prince Edward and his wife but where are these students when we have national events. What message is this portraying? The message is clear that Royalty takes priority. You can find time to attend the events for the Royal but you cannot find time to attend other national events.
The same set of people all of the time
If we want to expose people to “Royalty” then invite people other than the same set of people, all of the time. This appears to be some type of exclusivity. I believe there were two major events on the island of Providenciales, the Premier’s luncheon and the Deputy Government women empowerment group. Maybe both should have been coordinated together so that the same people would not attend both events and in so doing this would have been an opportunity for those people who normally do not get invited to events to attend. I know everybody cannot be invited but this is an opportunity to spread it out.
Instill a sense of national pride.
It appears that a lot of focus was on the young people and there is nothing wrong with that. However, what concerns is me is how many times have we gather our young people to meet our local leaders. We must instill a sense of national pride in our young people. We must not let them grow up thinking that the Monarchy or a Prince or a celebrity is more important than our very own people. I guess Royalty takes priority.
During the month of October, which is National Heritage Month, we should celebrate our local leaders and invite the young people to celebrate them. In fact, we should not wait until National Heritage Month, I challenge all of us particularly the Cultural Department to have events to celebrate our people.
Celebrate not only the women but the men and young people.
As I mentioned in many articles in the past, I don’t think we have a gender inequality issue. However, I think it is great that women in the Turks and Caicos were recognized who were able to assume positions and roles for the first time as women. However, let us not forget the men and young people who have also made strives in this country. Women did not have to break the ceilings in the Turks and Caicos as women always were in prominent positions in the Turks and Caicos.
Conclusion
I am not fan of the monarchy as I believe the monarchy has outlived its purpose. Therefore, you will not see me or my family in attendance at a monarchy event. However, I do recognize it is a big thing in the England as it has been part of their culture for hundreds of years. The Buckingham Palace also attracts thousands of visitors.
The purpose of my article is to highlight the fact that the Royal Couple should not take priority over us in the Turks and Caicos. The same way we went beyond our duty for the monarchy, we should use that same energy to go out of our way for the residents and tourists.
I really don’t know what we gained out of that visit by Prince Edward and his wife. However, for me it was a confirmation that some of us are still suffering from mental slavery.