Mr Bailiff, Your Excellency, Bishop Trevor, Ladies and Gentlemen. May I also welcome Commodore Miller and Elaine Cobb. This is the third welcome – or fourth if you count the Attorney General’s words of official welcome – that you will now have received. I think it’s called ‘drawing the short straw’.
I am therefore left with one of two options – being short and to the point because it’s already been said, or repeating what others have said. Your Excellency, I’m afraid I’ve gone for the latter, because we particularly want you and Lady Dalton to feel the warmth of a Jersey welcome and to feel at home here from the start of your term of office.
You will have heard – in the Assembly this morning – about the Lieutenant Governor’s special status as the personal representative of Her Majesty the Queen. Our system of government, and our institutions, have evolved over centuries, and are still evolving - rather too slowly for some.
The Lieutenant Governor’s duties have also evolved over the years. As we heard this morning: when the King appointed a Warden to defend the Island in the C13th ‘defence’ was the business in hand. Philippe d’Aubigny - appointed by King John – led a force to attack Sark and secure it for the King, capturing scores of prisoners in the process. Later he put a grisly end to the turncoat monk Eustace, slaying him after he was found hiding in the bilges of his own ship.
I’m not sure if this is a warning to Bishop Trevor or Commodore Miller - perhaps both might take note.
Even when Sir George Don was appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1806, the island was still in danger of invasion. So Don established a signalling system to give warning if the French fleet left St Malo. The news could be flashed, using flags by day and burning tar barrels by night, from a look-out ship to Mont Orgueil, Grosnez, Sark and Guernsey, where the British fleet was stationed.
The whole process took just 15 minutes – considered speedy at the time, and still less time than it takes for me to drive into town from L’Etacq every day!
Interestingly General Don was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1820, nearly 200 years before you, Sir Stephen, received the same honour in 2012.
I’m pleased to say that these days our Lieutenant Governor is unlikely to be asked to undertake hand-to-hand combat on behalf of the Sovereign. Although I’m sure if you were required – judging by your military record and your dress sword – you would be well able to do so.
You will, however, be maintaining the links with that historic role; as it is the Crown that guarantees the Island its position as a Crown Dependency in the modern world. And it is not just the formal occasions that are important.
The support and encouragement from successive Lieutenant Governors for public and voluntary service are much appreciated; as are the many interactions with the people and organisations that make up the diverse social fabric of our Island. I believe this aspect of the role is one that often brings much satisfaction – and I know it is one that is much appreciated by the many islanders who give their time to Jersey’s charities and other voluntary organisations.
On average the Lieutenant-Governor and his wife entertain more than 3,000 guests a year at functions in Government House and its grounds, so I hope Your Excellency has a ready hand shake. The annual levée is one such event, which is hugely enjoyed by the hundreds of islanders who attend each year. I am sure it won’t be long before Your Excellency and Lady Dalton experience for yourselves the warmth of the reception that the Island offers. For the moment, it falls to me to say how very pleased we are to welcome you.
You will have already noticed that in Jersey we do things correctly, and in the right order. New Lieutenant Governors are sworn into office - and only once it’s too late are they then allowed to take up their seats in the States Assembly. Now that oath of office has been sworn and Your Excellency has attended his first States sitting – there’s no going back!
Jersey today is a thriving, outward looking, welcoming cosmopolitan Island that facilitates global trade, with our own judiciary, parliament, police force, and so much more. Our domestic and fiscal autonomy span centuries. They are derived from the rights and privileges granted by successive monarchs – and stem from our enduring loyalty to the British Crown. But what does this loyalty, these rights and privileges, mean in our modern, fast-changing world?
For my part – it means protecting and nurturing our autonomy but, equally importantly, it means strengthening our relationship with the United Kingdom government – through whom Her Majesty now acts - seeking no constitutional change save to build even stronger and deeper relations with UK government ministers and departments.
On the day after the UK parliament approved the law that allows Prime Minister May to trigger Article 50 – never has it been more important to preserve the enduring stability of this longstanding relationship.
Yesterday, during the service of thanksgiving, we were thinking about ‘true service’. No-one embodies that biblical model of service better than Her Majesty and while we may refer to Her Majesty as Our Queen and Our Duke, we are a loyal, royalist island. It is by virtue of this loyalty that we are pleased and delighted to welcome you, Your Excellency, as her Majesty’s personal representative. We are sure that you will enjoy your time here. You and Lady Dalton are truly welcome.
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