After the Duchess of Sussex turned up in the Hague, wearing a crisp white suit, how many white suits do you think the Duchess of Cambridge bought? My guess is she’s probably gotten at least six white suits in the past two months. She brought out one of her new white suits today, for a trip to Waterloo Station with Prince William. They were there to unveil a new monument at the station. That monument? A piece of public art in honor of the Windrush generation. The Windrush scandal is where people – mostly from Caribbean countries – were wrongly deported from Britain, denied medical care or legal representation, and/or detained and jailed falsely. The Windrush scandal is still ongoing and people are still trying to get justice, so it’s strange that the government was like “we’ll spend £1 million on a piece of art instead.”
“Bittersweet” is how a national monument paying tribute to the “courage and resilience” of the Windrush generation has been described by campaigners on the eve of its unveiling at Waterloo Station – and some have chosen to boycott the event altogether, The Independent can reveal.
The statue – of a man, woman and child in their Sunday best standing on top of suitcases – will be revealed at one of London’s biggest train stations on Wednesday to mark Windrush Day. It was designed by the Jamaican artist and sculptor Basil Watson, who said he was “truly honoured” to have been chosen when the government shared details of the monument last October. The government, which has provided £1 million in funding for the project, said it will “create a permanent place of reflection and inspiration and be a visible statement of our shared history and heritage”.
Patrick Vernon OBE said while the tribute is welcomed, it is “jarring” to some survivors of the scandal while the compensation scheme is not meeting their needs more than four years after the Windrush scandal was brought to light.
“Any recognition for the Windrush generation is always welcomed and I hope there’ll be others. But there are issues, in that Windrush victims and survivors of the scandal have concerns because the monument has been funded by the government and the compensation scheme is not meeting their needs,” the campaigner said. Mr Vernon doubled down on ongoing calls for the Windrush Compensation Scheme to be removed from the government’s control. “The scheme itself needs to be removed from the Home Office for it to work properly and fairly,” he said.
The Independent also pointed out that actual Windrush Generation people were not even invited to the unveiling, and some of the people who were invited declined because this whole thing is kind of bullsh-t. It’s a bit odd to see Kate and William trotted out for this because it’s pretty political and sensitive. It’s definitely something which Prince Charles probably should have done, but Charles is overseas – he’s in Rwanda for the big Commonwealth meeting. He’s representing the Queen there. So that’s why Buttons and Incandescent were sent. Whew.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Instar.
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Catherine Duchess of Cambridge during her visit with with Prince William to ELEVATE at Brixton House in London to meet with younger generations of the British-Caribbean community, and other diasporas, who represent the next generation of British creative talent, to mark Windrush Day.
-PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge
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North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220622-
Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William at the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station, to mark Windrush Day. The statue – of a man, woman and child in their Sunday best standing on top of suitcases – was designed by the Jamaican artist and sculptor Basil Watson.
-PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Floella Benjamin
-PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.comDisclaimer:
This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at [email protected] or call 1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
