Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Wills’ tribute at monument unveiling
PRINCE William has heralded the Windrush Generation, saying without them “Britain would simply not be what it is today”.
As he and the Duchess of Cambridge unveiled a statue to the pioneers invited here from the Caribbean in 1948 and those who followed in the decades since, he said “every part of British life is better” for their presence.
The National Windrush Monument has been erected at London’s Waterloo station, where thousands of the new arrivals passed through on their way to help Britain rebuild after the Second World War.
The Queen also paid tribute to their “profound contribution”, describing the sculpture by Jamaican artist Basil Watson as a “fitting thank you”.
Depicting a man, woman and child standing on top of suitcases, its creator said the work pays tribute to the “dreams and aspirations, courage and dignity, skills and talents” of the Windrush generation who arrived with “a hope of contributing to a society that they expected would welcome them in return”.
That was often not the case as the Windrush pioneers were subjected to much racial abuse.
And years after the first 500
arrived on HMT Empire Windrush, they and their children were scandalously mistreated.
Some were wrongly detained and even deported, while others were denied access to official documents, healthcare, work, housing benefits and pensions, despite living legally in the UK. To guests including TV’S Floella Benjamin, William said: “Sadly... discrimination remains an all too familiar experience for Black men and women in Britain in 2022.
“Only a matter of years ago, tens of thousands of that generation were profoundly wronged by the Windrush Scandal.
“That rightly reverberates throughout the Caribbean community here in the UK as well as many in the Caribbean nations. Diversity is what makes us strong and it is what reflects the modern, outward-looking values that are so important to our country.”
Although fit enough to welcome the Governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazley, at Windsor Castle, the Queen could not make it to Waterloo. But she said: “It is my hope that the memorial will serve to inspire present and future generations, and I send you my warmest good wishes on this historic occasion.”