The King's speech at at Government House, Bermuda

Your Excellency, Mr. Premier, Members of the Cabinet, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am most grateful for your very kind words, Your Excellency, and particularly for your most generous hospitality this evening, in these beautiful grounds. And for allowing me to stay at Government House, which I wasn't sure was going to be ready in time. And it does smell of paint!

I need hardly say that Bermuda, like all the Overseas Territories, is a most cherished and important member of the British family – with a friendship as solid as this so-called “Rock”!   And for my own family in particular, Bermuda has a distinctly fond resonance.  Sadly, increasingly fewer of us are old enough to remember that my mother and father, The late Queen and late Duke of Edinburgh, made Bermuda the first stop of their Coronation Tour in 1953.  Of course, they visited on other occasions and, likewise, my sister, The Princess Royal, has been here numerous times – so, too has The Duchess of Gloucester, as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Bermuda Regiment, whom you so kindly hosted last year. 

So, it meant a very great deal, Mr. Premier, to receive your generous invitation to come here myself, and to make Bermuda my first Overseas Territory visit as King.  In fact, I am told it is also the “first time” in Bermuda’s four-hundred-year history that the islands have received a reigning King.  I am sorry it has taken so long! 

But, if I am honest, I find it hard to believe that my last visit here was fifty-six years ago, when I was a mere twenty-one-year-old, bounding up all one-hundred and eighty-five steps of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, and the now-magnificent Royal Poinciana I planted [just over there] was little more than a small sapling. 

Despite the years since, the impression left upon me by this extraordinary archipelago has not faded, and it has given me the greatest pleasure to meet so many special people from the islands.  Against the backdrop of such great natural scenery, the young people of Bermuda especially have shone brightly today.  Whether they were showcasing their art, their sport, their commitment to service, their passion for Nature, or their impressive Gombey dance, I am proud to have witnessed that the future of Bermuda is entrusted to such safe hands. 

Returning to Bermuda on this occasion has been a particular joy, and especially to celebrate anew all those who have contributed to its history, and those now shaping its future.  Above all, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all, and most particularly, the Premier Mr. Burt, his Cabinet, and the many hard-working members of his government, for the welcome you have extended to me today.  And so perhaps you will join me in raising a toast: to His Excellency and Mr. Premier, and to the people of Bermuda.