Cheers and shouts of “welcome home sir” echoed at the Owen Roberts International Airport’s Arrivals Hall as friends and supporters greeted former Premier Alden McLaughlin Saturday afternoon.
McLaughlin was formally knighted by King Charles at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on 31 Jan., where the Red Bay MP was declared a Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.
McLaughlin declared it was good to be back home as he thanked everyone who turned up to welcome him.
Passengers and passersby alike stopped the senior politician to extend their congratulations as they made their way through the Arrivals Hall.
McLaughlin is the second Caymanian to be knighted, the first being Sir Vassel Johnson in 1994.
Governor Martyn Roper, in a post on his official social media pages, extended congratulations to the former premier, saying, “Outstanding personal achievement. Strong signal of respect for Cayman’s progress as vibrant democracy based on rule of law and good governance”.
‘Humbled and honoured’
Original story: Former Premier Alden McLaughlin was “humbled and honoured” to have been knighted by King Charles III, a moment that he said will remain with him for all his life.
“As I knelt there before the King, and he tapped each of my shoulders with his sword, it felt surreal. I still pinch myself that this once little Caymanian boy has been knighted,” McLaughlin told the Cayman Compass in an interview on Thursday.
He was formally knighted by King Charles at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on 31 Jan. at which the Red Bay MP was declared a Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.
Speaking to the Compass from London, he said he dedicated the honour to the Caymanian people.
“It was indeed one of those occasions which I shall always cherish and always remember. I am humbled and honoured to have received this for my work and my contributions to the Cayman Islands and our people, and it is to the people of the Cayman Islands that I dedicate this knighthood,” McLaughlin said.
Historic moment for Cayman
McLaughlin is the second Caymanian to be knighted; Sir Vassel Johnson received the honour in 1994.
The former premier was among the last to receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2021, as part of her final New Year Honours list.
McLaughlin, 61, was accompanied to London by his wife Kim, sons Daegan and Caelan, and sisters Elizabeth McLaughlin and Debra McLaughlin.
As I knelt there, before the King, and he tapped each of my shoulders with his sword, it felt surreal. I still pinch myself that this once little Caymanian boy has been knighted
Recounting the experience, McLaughlin said the investiture is a moment that “will stay with me for the rest of my life”.
“As our car swept up the long drive approaching the historic Windsor Castle, whose foundation were begun in 1070 AD, [it] was one of the most incredible and awesome experiences I have ever had. I was completely overwhelmed by the place and the moment,” he said.
McLaughlin said he was filled with awe as he entered the castle and walked into the Lantern Lobby, which was “filled with all sorts of historical relics, in particular, guns and armour and various items belonging to the Royal Family through the ages”.
He said although there were a hundred or more persons receiving honours from King Charles on 31 Jan., he was one of only two knights who were invested that day.
As he reflected on the experience, McLaughlin recalled that King Charles, formerly the Prince of Wales, was someone he got to know “fairly well, and with whom I had various experiences over the course of many years, most notably his visit to Cayman in 2019”.
McLaughlin was premier at the time of that visit.
It was this familiarity that led to the King conversing with him at the ceremony.
“The King took the opportunity to inquire about how well Cayman was doing, whether the economy had recovered from the effects of COVID-19, and indeed inquired about how well the green agenda for the environment was coming along. I think some people present were a bit surprised at the length of time that he took to speak to me,” he added.
In 2020, McLaughlin met with the then Prince of Wales at Highgrove House, his private residence, where they focused on a Cayman Islands-based ‘Blue/Green Fund’ initiative that was introduced to the prince when he visited the Cayman Islands in March 2019. The fund aims to provide financing for blue/green projects in the Caribbean.
The Cayman Islands government, in October 2021, added US$25 million in seed funding to the new investment fund that will invest in climate-change mitigation technologies and businesses.
The seed capital was a catalyst for the establishment of the Commonwealth Climate Growth Fund (Cayman) LP, based in the Cayman Islands, and sponsored by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.
Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart was on hand for the celebratory dinner in London following McLaughlin’s investiture.
“Delighted to celebrate this evening with Sir Alden and Lady Kim McLaughlin on the occasion of his investiture as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George today at Windsor Castle,” McTaggart tweeted from his official Twitter page on 31 Jan.
Governor Martyn Roper, announcing McLaughlin’s knighthood in 2021, said it was “an outstanding personal achievement for former Premier McLaughlin, one of the most important and impactful political leaders in Cayman over the last 21 years. It is a significant moment for our islands. This historic award is only the second ever Knighthood to a Caymanian since the first in the 1990s.”
McLaughlin, Cayman’s first premier to serve two consecutive terms, was instrumental in securing the Island’s Constitution Order in 2009, as well as the subsequent changes in 2019, which included renaming the Legislative Assembly as the House of Parliament.
In the same honours list announced in December 2021, former legislator Lucille Seymour (for services to sport, education and the people of the Cayman Islands) and Sharon Smith (for services to the former Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands) both received Member of the Order of the British Empire. Natalie Coleman (for services to arts and culture in the Cayman Islands and wider region) received a British Empire Medal.
Seymour was also in London to celebrate the former premier’s investiture, as were McLaughlin’s Opposition colleagues David Wight and Barbara Conolly.
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