King “wants to play a part in celebrating Windrush,” claims a member of the Windrush Portraits Committee
The king “wants to play a part in celebrating the history of what the Windrush pioneers did,” said a member of his portrait committee.
Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin and Paulette Simpson CBE were interviewed by Berkshire Racecourse yesterday, to celebrate 75 years of Windrush generation in a video shared on Twitter and retweeted by the royal family.
The two women spoke about the 10 portraits His Majesty commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation, who have joined the Royal Collection, which he unveiled yesterday.
The portraits, which tell the story of the people who came on the Windrush to help rebuild Britain after World War II, were also shown on electric screens in Ascot yesterday.
The 74-year-old monarch said it is his “sincere hope” that the project will serve as a reminder that “our society is woven from different threads, each with stories of remarkable courage and sacrifice, determination and strength.”
The king ‘wants to play a part in celebrating the history of what the Windrush pioneers did’, a member of his portrait committee claimed
Royal Ascot celebrated Windrush’s 75th anniversary this week and interviewed Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin and Paulette Simpson CBE to discuss the portraits of 10 Windrush elders commissioned by the King to mark the occasion
The king commissioned ten portraits of the Windrush Elders, which you can see in the video.
During the interview, Bishop Rose said, “We’re marking the story of the pioneers, that’s what I call them, they’re pioneers, not just the Windrush celebration.
“That first group that came, and they came because they wanted to make a contribution to Britain,” she added. “So they were there in the rebuilding of Britain.”
“And unfortunately, as a nation, we have forgotten their contribution and so as if they didn’t belong.
So Windrush Day, June 22, is the day we make sure we remember them as a nation, we remember their contribution.
“And I think this is our hope that we, as pioneers, those of us who are their descendants will wave the flag and continue to achieve their hopes and dreams,” she added.
She also mentioned a special service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor attended by King Charles yesterday.
Paulette said she felt the Monarch “wants to play a part in acknowledging and celebrating and writing in history what the Windrush pioneers did.”
Bishop Rose said the king’s involvement in commemorating Windrush is “absolutely essential”.
We are grateful for his genuine interest and support, saying the Windrush generations and their descendants are ‘interlinked with Britain’.
She added that the Monarch’s involvement with Windrush shows that he is “a king who must learn for himself and connect with all his people.”
The King proudly unveiled portraits he had commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation, praising their ‘immeasurable’ contribution to the UK.
The exhibition will be on display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, His Majesty’s official residence in Edinburgh.
King Charles shook hands with Gilda Oliver at a reception marking the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush’s arrival at Buckingham Palace earlier this week
Pictured: a portrait of Linda Haye commissioned last year by King Charles when he was still Prince of Wales
The subjects were carefully selected by the specially appointed Windrush Portraits Committee – chaired by Baroness Floella Benjamin.
Entitled ‘Windrush: Portraits of a Pioneering Generation’, the exhibition honors the men and women who arrived in Britain from the Caribbean 75 years ago in 1948 on the HMT Empire Windrush.
In the foreword to a book accompanying the portraits, Charles said: ‘History happily and finally begins to give a rightful place to those men and women of the Windrush generation.
“The 10 portraits in this series, along with the tributes to other members of that indomitable generation, are a small way to honor their remarkable legacy.
“It is, I think, critical that we actually see and hear about these pioneers who disembarked the Empire Windrush at Tilbury in June 1948 – just a few months before I was born.
“And those who followed over the decades, to recognize and celebrate the immeasurable difference they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country.”
The portraits will be honored as part of the official Royal Collection as a powerful reminder of the people of Windrush and their personal resilience and determination.
The ten sitters, now in their 80s and 90s, include RAF veterans Delisser Bernard and Alford Gardner, founding member of the Learie Constantine West Indian Association John (Big John) Richards and actress Carmen Munroe OBE.
Pictured: A portrait of Jessie Stephens, member of the Windrush generation, who traveled to the UK from the Caribbean
Pictured: This portrait of Professor Sir Godfrey Palmer is included in the exhibition to be shown in Edinburgh
Created by black artists personally selected by the king, the portraits will be displayed on 500 billboards and 600 screens in shopping centers across the UK for two weeks.
The sitters were selected by the Windrush Portraits Committee, appointed by Charles and chaired by Baroness Floella Benjamin, along with Paulette Simpson, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin and Rudolph Walker.
Last week, King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace where he met the 10 individuals whose faces have been immortalized in paint.
The newly crowned King and Queen were joined by BBC News anchor Clive Myrie – whose parents were part of the Windrush generation and traveled to the UK in the 1960s.
Other high-profile guests at the event included veteran journalist Sir Trevor McDonald, former Loose Women panellist June Sarpong and Jamaican-born entrepreneur Levi Roots.
The former troopship Empire Windrush landed in Britain on 22 June 1948, transporting people from all over the Caribbean who had responded to an advertisement offering £28 tickets (about £1040 in today’s money) for those who wanted to work in the UK.