Remarks by HRH The Prince of Wales to the crowd at the Chief's Nakamal, Vanuatu

Halo yufala evriwan.  Mi glad blong stap wetem yufalatedei.

​[Hello everyone. I am pleased to be with you today.]

I am most touched by the very special welcome you have given me here this afternoon.  I am also deeply grateful to President Tirsupe and the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs for the wonderful hospitality you have so generously offered and for the great honour you have bestowed upon me in granting me the chiefly title of Mal Menaringmanu.   

I need hardly say that it gives me particular pleasure to be able to visit this beautiful country, about which I have heard so many memorable stories from the members of my family who have come here over the years. Unfortunately, when The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh came here in 1974 with my sister, Princess Anne, I was serving in the Royal Navy and so was unable to join them. However, I have heard a great deal about these islands from my father, whose ties to your country are, I know, particularly cherished.

On this special occasion, I bring you Her Majesty The Queen’s and Prince Phillip’s warmest greetings. For my part, it was so very important to me that I should come here myself to offer you my kindest wishes and to say how much I have felt for you over the terrible trials and tribulations you have endured, and how much I admire the remarkable resilience you have shown in the face of such great adversity - from successive cyclones and, even as we as we gather here today, from the impact of Lombenben's volcanic eruption which the people on Ambae Island are facing with such fortitude.

The solidarity shown by Vanuatu's Commonwealth neighbours, Australia and New Zealand, in response to Cyclone Pam and other challenges, reminds us all that the bonds between our countries are strong and that our Commonwealth family stands together in good times and in bad. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, my visit to Vanuatu, while far too brief, has nevertheless allowed me to experience for myself the warmth and generosity of spirit for which the people of Vanuatu are so justly famous.

Once again, I could not be more grateful to you all for the welcome you have shown to me today. As Chief Mal Menaringmanu, may I say to you: 

tankyu tumas blong gudfala welkam

[Thank you very much for the warm welcome]

Hemi wan bigfala ona blong kam wan jif.

[I am honoured to have been made a Chief]

Mi enjoyem plante visit blong mi

[I have greatly enjoyed my visit]

Vanuatu, yu namba wan!

[Vanuatu, you are great!]