With the coronation date of England’s King Charles III fast approaching, British ex-pat Lisette Stevens recounts her meeting with him when he visited Dominica in 2017. Having weathered the devastation of Hurricane Maria, and 15 days of isolation in the island’s interior, she spoke to DNO about the day that Ms. Tina Alexander arrived via helicopter to check on their welfare and invite them to meet with King Charles III at the Botanical Gardens. The itinerary, which included a visit to Point Michel and some organic farms allowed Lisette to have the would-be King’s ear for a few moments of what she describes as a “short, happy” interaction and depicts him as “very gracious.”
Stevens, who bought land in 2005 and moved to the island in 2007, is originally from Cornwall, England. She relocated from Antigua, where she lived for 18 years, and worked as one of LIAT’s travel writers from 1995 till her departure. Putting her passionate love for the Nature Isle to canvas she produced original paintings of the national parrots and other birds for the Forestry Division under then-head Jaqui Andre.
Since King Charles, dubbed ‘the climate king’, is known for being committed to the cause of nature, Lisette and Ms. Alexander agreed that it would be appropriate to present the monarch with a painting she had done of the national bird–the Sisserou Parrot. As would befit his long history of environmental activism, King Charles, in conversation, wanted to know more about the parrots of Dominica. Specifically, he took a keen interest in whether any of the birds had survived the storm. She reassured him that there were still parrots remaining in her area at the time.
In an era when the relevance of a British monarchy can come into question, especially amongst former colonies, is there significance in a monarch (and head of the Commonwealth) who is sympathetic to conservationist causes for member countries like Dominica–Nature Island of the Caribbean?
Maybe the importance of symbolism here cannot be discounted. According to Stevens, the short visit to the country by His Majesty did greatly boost morale, at a time when it was needed.
The artist, who lives in the Layou Valley, professes great love for her adopted home and feels strongly that “a lot of people need to know about the beautiful Nature Island of the Caribbean.”
Lisette will be featured on BBC Radio 2’s, Radio 2 Celebrates the Coronation: ‘The King and I’ which will air live this Sunday (April 30) at 8 p.m., which is 3 p. m. our time.
I think the fact that Dominica will be given air time on the BBC show the King and I will advertise Dominica world wide. Hopefully we will get tourists coming to visit us here. This could be what is needed? The parrots could be a big attraction!
Soon-to-be coronated King Charles III took great interest in the Sisserou Parrot recalls IMMIGRANT artist. There, i fixed your headline.
Bring back the parrots that were kidnapped after hurricane Maria. They are lonely living in Europe they should be back home in Dominica where they were born.
Ya but the game is over. America kicked their as*es from super power status to being on the fringe of a 3rd World country. He needs to tell us, the world, how and when he is going to initiate the return of all the ship-loads of African arts and the remaining gold that line his mother’s ‘palace, chariot and British museum’ which MUST BE RETURNED to the rightful owners.
@There’s More
Despite that they are still fanning the flames of war in Ukraine, pretending to be the power they once were. Their military can’t even full a stadium of capacity 25000 people. And military stockpilss are low.The country is broke, inflation is high, unemployment and all the other ills are wrecking havoc.
but they still help Dominica through health and infrastructure, but you don’t know anything about that, eh! if ungrateful was a person it would be you.
No, their generosity has done that…keep helping ungrateful af third world countries and there you are .. one them!
Soon to be King Charles has too much drama surrounding his personal life also the monarchy is littered with nefarious activities and stories for him to make any dent in the Sisserou parrot sage. The news media in Dominica has dropped the ball on the parrots and many other issues of national importance. At least the media in Dominica can ask the government for an update on the status of the parrots. If the government chooses not to respond then at least the public can form it’s opinion on why. Are we waiting for a British person imported to Dominica to be more concerned about our national heritage than we who have our navels buried here? El Supremo and the current President, don’t give a damn about the once highly valued national symbol even if they talk about conservation and national pride. Judas appeared to love Jesus even when he sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. Dominica I’m sorry.
Lying Roosevelt’s administration told the country that the national birds were shipped to Germany because they were injured and Germany had the wherewithal to nurse then back to complete health
Five years and counting and not as much as a single word on the present health status of these indigenous, unique creatures. Stop referring to this man as honourable when he is the most dishonorable, undisputed, crowned LIAR.
The late Queen Elizabeth (2) stubbornly refused to even apologise for the enslavement of our ancestors. Her son, King Charles, has bluntly refused to even give the topic a cursory mention.
This story, in my frank opinion, about King Charles falling in love with the national bird, is of no relevance nor significance to us. We need reparative justice. Why has DNO even published this nothing burger?