The birthday of His Majesty King Charles III was celebrated with a regal parade on 15 June that honoured both Cayman and the United Kingdom.
The booming echo of the 21-gun salute could be heard the length and breadth of Seven Mile Beach. And while startled tourists stood and stared, Cayman’s community leaders stood to rigid attention as the parade unfolded.
The fluttering flags and proud singing of national songs served as a stirring reminder of the powerful ties that still unite Cayman and the UK, more than half a century since the dismantling of the latter’s once-mighty Empire.
The parade itself was a rare chance for the public to appreciate some of the institutions that work quietly throughout the year to ensure Cayman remains one of the safest places in the Caribbean. It was composed of detachments from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, the Cayman Islands Regiment, the Cayman Islands Fire Service, HM Cayman Islands Prison Service and the Cayman Islands Coast Guard.
But the King’s Birthday Parade and Honours Ceremony, which took place outside Government House on West Bay Road, also showed a glimpse of Cayman’s future, with plucky detachments of the Girls’ Brigade Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands Scout and Cub Scouts and the Cayman Islands Cadet Corps. Young vocalist Skyler Miller stole the show with her impassioned rendition of the national song, ‘Beloved Isle Cayman’.
Celebrating Cayman
The parade is billed as a celebration of the British monarch’s official birthday, but it is also a chance to celebrate Cayman, with King Charles naming five members of the Cayman community in his Birthday Honours list. Indeed, the most moving part of the entire ceremony came when those honoured individuals stood to receive the acclaim and recognition of the crowd.
As the Compass previously reported, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, charity founder Tara Nielsen, educational leader Glenda McTaggart, Detective Superintendent Peter Lansdown and sustainability advocate Melanie Carmichael were all awarded in the King’s Birthday Honours list this year.
Lansdown, who led the parade at the head of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, dedicated his King’s Police Medal to his fellow officers. “To my brave and professional colleagues, I paraphrase the words of Theodore Roosevelt, ‘It is not the critic who counts …. The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena … who is marred by blood and sweat of battle, yet strives and spends themselves in a worthy cause … whilst daring greatly and not sitting with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.’”
The packed crowd, which included leading figures from both government and the opposition, also witnessed Governor Jane Owen present Certificates and Badges of Honour to two Caymanians. Corinne Glasgow was recognised for her services to the community and voluntary organisations, while Shaun Matthew Tracey was awarded for his services to chess in schools and the wider community.
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