It was an historic day for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall as they carried out engagements in Barbados and Cuba – the first members of the Royal Family to visit the country.
The royal couple attended a church service at St. Michael’s Cathedral, which, in 1842, was designated a cathedral from a parochial church by Queen Victoria.
According to the Daily Mail, Bishop Michael Bruce St. John Maxwell included Prince Charles and Camilla in the prayers along with The Queen and Prince Philip, and also asked God to “endue them with thy Holy Spirit, enrich them with thy heavenly grace, prosper them with all happiness and bring them to thine everlasting kingdom.”
Following the church service, Prince Charles and Camilla departed Barbados from the Grantley Adams International Airport to head to Cuba.
Their historic visit to Cuba began at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, where they were greeted by Rogelio Sierra Diaz, Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. They then took part in a wreath-laying ceremony.
Prince Charles and Camilla visited the José Martí Memorial, and Prince Charles laid a wreath at a monument dedicated to the poet and writer who lived between 1835 and 1895, and fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain.
The event included The Ceremonial Band of the General Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces playing the national anthems of Cuba and the United Kingdom, and the wreath consisted of pink roses, which soldiers laid on Prince Charles’s behalf.
Following the wreath-laying, Prince Charles and Camilla visited the José Martí Museum and signed the guestbook.
Eva Maria Diaz, the Museum’s curator, later revealed that Prince Charles was already quite knowledgeable about Martí, and that he had told her that he would like to spend more time in the country.
Tomorrow, Prince Charles and Camilla will undertake a full day of engagements, continuing their historic visit to Cuba.
