This week Gibraltar had some very important visitors coming to the Rock. Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex came to Gibraltar as part of the Jubilee tours for the Royal household. Unfortunately we would have loved the Queen to have come to Gibraltar this year because it has been 58 years since she last came on a visit here but we were still overjoyed to get a visit from Prince Edward.
Prince Edward is no stranger to Gibraltar as he has visited us before in the past but for the Countess it was her 1st time to our little Rock. Most of us had already put out our flag, bunting and even painted our homes and streets for the Jubilee, but flags were still going up and new banners appeared every day on different windows and homes.
When the Prince arrived on Monday the Government had given the day off for their workers so they could take to the streets and give a warm llanito welcome. He was driven to town where a huge crowd was waiting for him. After a quick dance show in the Piazza he was due to walk from there to the Convent where he would be based fro the next three days. Under normal circumstance it takes about 5-10 mins to get there walk but it took the Royal couple an hour and half to do this trip as everyone wanted to say a few words to him, take a photo and maybe a handshake.
The next day the Prince was busy with all sorts of visits and events around Gibraltar but the main event was going to be the Queen’s Birthday Parade. The Queen’s birthday Parade is an annual event but the fact that Royalty would be there made it a little bit extra special and of course the crowd turned out in red white and blue.
The parade in itself is a formal affair to which all the top people in the military and government are invited to watch apart from members of the public. Since this parade takes place in June it is normally bathed in sunshine which makes the military uniforms shine brighter.
The band went on with two guards in tow to await the arrival of the Royal party which was going to be reviewing the parade. Soon after the car with the Prince arrived to the crowds delight which let out a cheer as flags were waived. As the parade was going on, there were two flypasts along with the traditional gun salute.
After the parade the Royal party left for the convent to greet the guests at the garden party – this party is normally hosted by the Governor but this year the Royals were the guests of honour. I think by this time they must have been tired after soon many visits, but it was still not over.
The next day the Royals still had to visit the new airport before leaving back to the UK
Anyways, it has been a busy time in Gibraltar with all the Jubilee celebrations but now we can enjoy the summer and see what else it has in store.
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