The Diplomat
The Earls of Wessex, who visited Gibraltar since last Tuesday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, bade the colony farewell yesterday with a grand military parade through the streets of the Rock.
The stay in the colony of Prince Edward, the Queen’s youngest son, has had a strong military component, since one of his most important activities was a visit to the Naval Base. There he met with the Commander of the British Forces, Steve Dainton, and went on board the RFA Argus, a ship of the Royal Navy Auxiliary Fleet, which, together with the HMS Trent, arrived at the Rock to take part in the events celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Both the presence in the Naval Base and the military parade has been interpreted in diplomatic circles as a desire of the United Kingdom to emphasize the British sovereignty of Gibraltar, at a time when negotiations are underway between London and Brussels on the future relationship of the Rock with the European Union, after Brexit.
In fact, the Spanish government formally protested to the British government, apparently at the level of Secretary of State, about the visit of the Earls of Wessex, something that was not the first time it happened, but now occurs in a particularly delicate situation.
Yesterday, the Gibraltarian Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, in a farewell lunch speech offered to the Earl of Wessex, stressed precisely the “strategic importance” of the military installations of the Rock, recalling that the Queen also spoke of this during her visit in 1954.
In addition, Picardo did not miss the opportunity to ensure that Gibraltar “will never falter in its devotion to Britain, our Queen and the Crown”.
