JERSEY formally received His Majesty King Charles III as “a symbol of order and stability” at special meeting of the States held in the Royal Square.
Welcoming the King and Queen Camilla to Jersey, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said the Island’s loyalty to the Crown remained “constant and strong”. “Our relationship, with the United Kingdom, though important to us, lies in its constitutional essence through the person of the Sovereign,” the Bailiff said.
On a specially constructed dais on the spot where the King’s accession was proclaimed by Sir Timothy in September 2022, the Bailiff delivered the address on behalf of the people of Jersey.
“As Your Majesty will know, it was here your royal predecessor King Charles II was proclaimed King, a full 11 years before he was so recognised in his other realms. It was in this place that the Battle of Jersey reached its conclusion in 1781, preserving Jersey as a dependency of the Crown.
“Here too a predecessor Bailiff gladly proclaimed our freedom when the forces of your royal grandfather King George VI liberated the Island from enemy occupation at the end of the Second World War.
“In 1952 we proclaimed the accession to the throne of your late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, much loved and admired by the people of this island, and here that in 2022 I had the honour of proclaiming Your Majesty’s accession to the throne,” the Bailiff said.
With members of the States occupying the seats at the front of an auditorium especially constructed for the occasion, the special meeting of the States opened under the presidency of Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae as the Assembly awaited the arrival of Their Majesties. Tracing the relationship with the Crown back to King John’s loss of continental Normandy in 1204, Sir Timothy said that Islanders continued to regard the Monarch as the lawful Duke of Normandy, and had been rewarded with privileges and liberties which endured to this day, renewed in successive Royal Charters.
“The seedlings of our special constitutional identity were planted and they have been nurtured down the centuries by royal protection and by the loyalty, resilience and independence of spirit of the Jersey people,” Sir Timothy said.
The Bailiff concluded his loyal address with a further reference to the Island’s special relationship with the Crown.
“In the traditional words that reach back into our history and recognise Your Majesty’s unique position in the hearts of Islanders and in our history as our Sovereign and Duke: Vive Le Roi, Notre Duc! Vive La Reine! God Save The King,” he said, as the crowd spontaneously took up the refrain before breaking into applause.
In his response, the King spoke of the happy recollections he and the Queen had of the welcome they received 12 years ago when celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of his late mother.
“During that visit we met so many Islanders and learned of the high regard and affection in which she was held, and also a great deal about your beautiful and unique island. We look forward to doing so again today during our time here in St Helier. Jersey has one of the oldest connections to the Crown and we are delighted to be here once again to celebrate the special and the close relationship which binds us together. I pray that the blessing of almighty God will attend all your deliberations for the benefit and prosperity of this island,” the King said.
