Local authorities are putting the finishing touches to preparations for the visit of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall on tomorrow Wednesday March 20th 2019.
The visit is part of a wider Commonwealth country tour to the Caribbean spanning March 17th to 29th.
Their Royal Highnesses are expected to arrive at midday on Wednesday at the Argyle International Airport where a welcoming ceremony will be held on the tarmac. They will then proceed to the front of the airport where they will greet school children and members of the public.
From there, the programme will split as the Prince departs for the Mangroves at Brighton, while the Duchess heads to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College where a small exhibition by female entrepreneurs will be staged. Following her engagement at the Community College the Duchess will proceed to the St. Vincent Girls High School to meet with students there.
Following his visit to the Mangroves His Royal Highness will stop at the SVG Coast Guard Base at Calliaqua, for a brief engagement, and then proceed by sea to the Kingstown Ferry Berth. At this point both convoys will come together and proceed to the Cenotaph for a wreath-laying ceremony.
The wreath laying ceremony will be followed by a visit to the St. Georges Cathedral, then on to the Botanical Gardens for a tree planting ceremony. The final activities will be a Reception and an Investiture ceremony at the official residence of the Prime Minister, where several persons who were named on the Queens New Year’s Honours List will receive their awards. Retired Surgeon, Dr. Cecil Cyrus, one of the honourees, will also be knighted at this ceremony.
The other islands to be visited by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Cuba and British overseas territory the Cayman Islands. It would be the first time that Cuba would receive an official visit from a member of the Royal family. Their Royal Highnesses visited St. Lucia yesterday.
The Prince of Wales has visited 45 out of 53 Commonwealth nations. The Duchess has visited 21 Commonwealth nations with the Prince of Wales. This will be the Duchess of Cornwall’s first visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and the Cayman Islands. This is the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall’s first visit to Cuba.
