William And Kate Unveil Monument To Windrush Generation

Today, Prince William and his Kate Middleton unveiled a new statue to pay homage to the Windrush generation at Waterloo station.The monument pays tribute to the thousands of people who arrived in the UK from Caribbean countries between 1948 and 1971.

The statue shows a man, woman, and child standing on top of suitcases and was revealed this morning too mark Windrush Day

The government funded the £1m statue, which was designed by artist Basil Watson.

In a message to mark the occasion, signed Elizabeth R, the Queen said she hoped the statue would "inspire present and future generations" as she sent her "warmest good wishes on this historic occasion".

Windrush Day is the day each year which marks the arrival of Caribbean immigrants to the shores of Britain on 22 June - the day HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks back in 1948.

The Queen's grandson, Prince William Duke of Cambridge unveiled the statue, alongside the Duchess of Cambridge. They explained that the monuments purpose is to pay tribute to the contributions of the Windrush generation, their descendants, and what they contributed to British life.

"Without you all Britain would simply not be what it is today," he said. "I want to say a profound thank you to every member of that generation and the generations that have followed."

Prince William also talked on how the "past weighs heavily" on the people of the Caribbean and the Windrush generation.

He said members of the Windrush generation had been consistent victims of racism when they arrived and he claimed that "discrimination remains an all too familiar experience for black men and women in Britain in 2022".

William referred to the Windrush scandal, of which news broke back in April 2018, and said that it still "rightly reverberates through the Caribbean community here in the UK".