Duke acknowledges Windrush ‘wrongs’
Prince William praises the contribution of Caribbean migrants but admits they were victims of racism
THE Windrush Generation have been “profoundly wronged” and suffered racism in Britain that continues to this day, the Duke of Cambridge said yesterday as he unveiled the first national monument in their honour.
The Duke, speaking to an audience that included Windrush “pioneers” and their families at Waterloo Station, London, gave thanks for the “enormous contribution” of those who travelled from the Caribbean in answer to a “plea to help our country thrive again” after the second world war.
“We know without question that the Windrush Generation have made our culture richer, our services stronger, and our fellow countrymen safer,” he said. “Only a matter of years ago, tens of thousands were profoundly wronged by the Windrush scandal. “Therefore, alongside celebrating the diverse fabric … of our society as a whole – something the Windrush Generation has contributed so much to – it is also important to acknowledge the ways in which the future they sought and deserved has yet to come to pass.”
The Duke made specific reference to his recent trip to the Caribbean with the Duchess, noting that it had taught him just how much “the past weighs heavily on the present”.
It is the first time the Duke has criticised the Windrush scandal, which came to light in 2018 after it emerged the Government had wrongly detained, deported or threatened to deport some of those who travelled from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1973 and their descendants.
The Duke’s criticism is a rare foray into politics, and follows a formal apology from the Government to members of the Windrush generation in 2019.
The Duke and Duchess met Baroness Benjamin, chair of the Windrush Commemoration Committee, two 96-yearold Windrush pioneers John Richards and Alford Gardner and sculptor Basil Watson at the unveiling, which coincided with Windrush Day.
The 12ft-high Windrush monument shows a man, woman and child arriving in Britain, dressed in their Sunday best and standing on a pile of suitcases.
The Queen sent her own message of tribute to the “profound contribution” the Windrush pioneers and their descendents made to the UK in a letter included in the programme.
It is the first time the Queen has officially marked Windrush Day, although the Prince of Wales has previously made speeches expressing the “debt of gratitude we owe”.