James BryceBy Emily Batty and James Bryce in Gibraltar
PRINCE Edward showed he had his father’s risque sense of humour during a walkabout in Gibraltar, as part of a three-day visit to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
On a short walk up the British enclave’s Main Street alongside his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, hecould not resist cracking a joke to a wheelchair user who had been patiently waiting to see them.
On seeing the woman, he sidled over and joked she was ‘lucky’ she had brought her chair.
In shades remarkably similar to the sort of risque jokes his father Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh is famous for, the woman fortunately laughed it off.
In total, the pair spent over an hour chatting to shop owners and bunting-waving children, amid a sea of union flags.
They made a particular effort to chat to 91-year-old Gibraltarian Aurelio Montegriffo, who dined with the Queen when she visited the Rock in 1954.
During the first day of a Rock tour to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the prince told a reporter that ‘it was lovely to be in Gibraltar’.
Wherever they went they received an enthusiastic welcome from well-wishers.
The crowds enthusiastically waved their flags of red, blue and white and broke into the Gibraltar and British anthems as the royals arrived at the Convent to meet Chief Minister Fabian Picardo at 2pm.
“The people of Gibraltar have done themselves proud,” said Picardo.
“We wanted to show Her Majesty our respect, affection and loyalty in her Diamond Jubilee year and the people of Gibraltar have come out in droves to welcome our Royal visitors.”
During the three-day visit they are set to take in a wide variety of sites.
On arrival today they inspected a Tri-Service Guard of Honour at RAF Gibraltar before laying the foundation stone for the Diamond Jubilee Monument.
On Tuesday they are set to visit the British Forces HQ, the Upper Rock and attend the Queen’s Birthday Parade, before finishing with a tour of the new airport terminal on Wednesday morning.
The visit has caused tension between Britain and Spain, with the current fishing dispute showing no signs of being resolved.
“I said from the outset that this visit was deeply unfortunate,” reiterated Spain’s foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.
Algeciras mayor Jose Ignacio Landaluce, added: “The royal visit has sullied the atmosphere.
“This land is ours and it’s a tense situation. It is a most inopportune moment for them to come.”
Given the current tensions over Gibraltar between the UK and the current PP Government in Madrid who are much more bullish about it than the PSOE I think this was a visit that could have been done without. In fairness to Spain it’s like a red rag to a bull and the Foreign and Commonwealth should have cancelled it as an act of good faith.
Peter u dnt know what ur talking about!
Gibraltar’s status as a British Crown Colony will not change, Spain will not have control over Gibraltar so just get used to the idea. Who would want to be ruled over by a bankrupt country run by a congenital and pathological liar like Rajoy who couldn’t tell the truth in a bible factory.
I guess you must be right considering all the acts of good faith that the Spanish governnment is known for when it comes to Gibraltar and it’s people. LOL
If Spain is, according to Gresham, such a despicable country, I ask: what the hell are you doing here?
So I take that YOU “Gresham” are living in Spain now? if you don’t like the politics, get the **** off!!
Gibraltar is British of course and that means the British Royal family can and should always visit it whenever they, and the Gibraltarians, wish. What Spain thinks is irrelevant.
Britain didn’t protest about the Spanish King’s last visits to Ceuta and Melilla, why should Spain protest about this ? Hypocrites !
Gibraltar has now been British for longer than it ever was Spanish and for longer than the USA has been an independent country, so this visit si none of Spain’s business.
The odious Margallo and the cretin that is Landaluce are only coming out with their hateful rhetoric in order to distract their voters from the mess that Spain is in.
Gibraltar is about the same distance from London that Tenerife is from Madrid, yet no one bats an eyelid when Prince Felipe visits the Canary Islands. If you look at where the latter lie on the maps wouldn’t you wonder why they’re not claimed by Morocco?
Dear Loki & Sydney, you need to revise your political views – democracy does allow criticism ……
It always surprises me when people go on about Gibraltar that they have never bothered to read what the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 actually says.
“The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to The Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and gives up said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without and exception or impediment whatsover.”
This land is ours….
This land is ours….
This Spanish attitude towards Gibraltar is based on a Franco ideology. It was he who started the war cry of ‘Gibraltar Spanish’, before this nobody really cared if Gibraltar was Spanish or not and relations were good in the region. The fact that the PP government is allowed to get away with this hatemongering is shocking.
In essence it’s as of hitler had left a legacy behind and a political party in Germany were pushing for it to happen. I wonder how that would be viewed internationally…
Tom
“The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to The Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and gives up said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without and exception or impediment whatsover.
Exacly dear Tom jejeje it never been wroten anything about the waters or the land of the airport that you invade in 1938 and tht you defend an invasion over spanish lands is shocking i do not even understand why we both keep in cooperation untill we don,t get a solution for it.
Well I have obviously just been dropped from a few Christmas card lists, my point is if your neighbour has just lodged a complaint against you for loud music it might be prudent to turn the volume down for a while. I am in no way suggesting that Gibraltar should return to Spain or that the PP are right merely keep the volume down
I don’t think that they had aeroplanes in 1713. However I may be wrong.
This petty squabbling over Gib is just silly when both countries have far bigger, more pressing issues to devote time to. There is some lack of clarity about the waters surrounding Gib, so both parties should go to the International Court to resolve it-unless they are nervous of the outcome and prefer to continue this childish squabbling
Peter, re your post 11 June 8:09pm
The only bull here is in the diet you have been fed by Spanish gov department of misinformation.
Gibraltar has no problem with Spaniards, only the embarrassing bull they spout when the subject of Gibraltar is brought up! It is as if someone throws a switch sending 600kv through the Spanish collective brain! Try it, the next time you are in Spain. Get into polite conversation and after about 10 minutes mention that you are from Gibraltar – bet the mood changes and one of the first things that will come out of their mouth will be “cut the electricity and water supply!”
By the way, Gibraltar is self sufficient in both!
To Steve Estepona
Both Gib and the UK are happy to go to the International Courts but Spain does not.
It is interesting that Spain claims the waters around Gib as theirs and complains that the RGP is chasing the Covil Guards out of Sanish waters. Surely, should they not be complaining in the international courts.
Sometimes, trying to be even handed is reiculous as already two of the three parties involved are ready to go to court and Gibraltar has publicly challenged the Spanish government so to do. What are the Spanish government waiting for?
The UK should relinquish its imperialist toe-hold in continental Europe – the UN continues to list Gibraltar as a territory that needs to be decolonised by the UK.
Under international law there are territorial limitations to the right of self-determination for transplanted populations living in colonial enclaves. This is the case with Gibraltar.
The UN General Assembly has passed a number of resolutions on the issue. The UN has repeatedly invited the UK to participate in discussions to achieve the de-colonisation of Gibraltar.
Unfortunately, the UK continues to rely on a discredited interpretation of the principle of self-determination to turn a deaf ear to those requests in a clearly self-serving way.
By the way, it’s worth noting that the current British enthusiasm for the principle of self-determination in the case of Gibraltar, and the Falklands for that matter, was certainly not matched by the response to the inhabitants of Diego Garcia, also a British Overseas Territory, who were evicted by the UK in 1971 against their wishes because the United States wanted the island as a military base.
FurtherBeyond.
You copy-paste exactly the same comment on every english speaking newspaper in the world when Gib gets mentioned from the Washington Post to the Daily Mail, I thought Goebbels propaganda machine had died in 1945.
It´s a shame the last colony in Europe. Gibraltar have to be decolonizated like the rest of the empire. UN is very clear: The rock should return to Spain.
AA…… if 98% of the residents vote to stay with the Commonwealth – I seriously suggest you let them, what do you think would happen, for whatever reason, if Gibraltar became Spanish overnight ?
Decolonisation can be achieved by integration, independence or free-association. It cannot be achieved by annexation to a hostile, land-hungry neighbour. Spain should enter the 21st century and drop its outdated territorial ambitions.
Spain has no right to Gibraltar.It was signed away in perpetuity at the treaty of Utrecht.
Now Gibraltar is a wonderful place that has managed to make something for itself.Just look across the border to bankrupt,crime ridden,run down Spanish La Linea to see my point.