‘Royal family genuinely supports the Asian diaspora’
PHARMACIST Raj Aggarwal has spoken of the royal family’s continued support for the British Asian community after he hosted Prince William, his wife Catherine and two of their children, George and Charlotte at Cardiff Castle during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Appointed as deputy lord lieutenant by the Queen, Aggarwal escorted the family around Cardiff Castle during rehearsals for the Platinum Jubilee Celebration Concert taking place in the grounds and other festivities.
“The royal family are strong supporters of the Asian community in the UK and have been for a very long time,” said Aggarwal, who was in June 2007 awarded an OBE for his contribution to the pharmaceutical industry and the life of the Asian community in Wales.
“The Queen has made several speeches about the wonders of multi-racial Britain and Prince Charles has made frequent visits to mosques and temples around the country. He has worn turbans and Taquiyah on several occasions. The first I remember was a golden turban he wore on a trip to a factory in Bangalore in 1980.”
Cardiff is a multi-cultural city with Asians accounting for eight per cent of the city’s population. Many from the community turned up to greet William and his family.
“These occasions are so much more than just PR, they represent an important mark of respect that the royal family has for the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities in the UK,” Aggarwal said.
He has been a champion of community pharmacy for almost 50 years and has firsthand experience of seeing the support the royal family has given to professions popular with Asians. “Prince Charles is a great supporter of the professions that several Asian people chose as their vocation, in particular the caring professions of the NHS,” he said.
“Only last month Prince Charles hosted a reception at St James Palace for 200 frontline community pharmacists and paid tribute to the dedication and professionalism of pharmacy staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“On that occasion he hailed the ‘diverse’ pharmaceutical industry and said ‘it may be an ancient profession, but it certainly reflects modern Britain in all its splendid diversity’.
Aggarwal said being bestowed the honour of being one of the Crown’s official representatives in South Glamorgan
show how much the Royal Family values the British Asian community. “I came from an Indian family which emigrated from Kenya in 1967. My family came to Wales with very little other than a work ethic and a thirst for knowledge, but now I’m am a deputy lord lieutenant in South Glamorgan,” said the 73-year-old. “The royal family have a genuine and heartfelt support for the South Asian diaspora living in the UK, and I think this is recognised and reciprocated by the vast majority of the Asian community living in the UK.”