Cayman gets long weekend as royal couple ties knot
CNS): The Cayman Islands government has declared the country will join the UK in celebrating the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April with an additional public holiday after the Easter break. The royal couple will tie the knot on Friday, 29 April which will mean Caymanians can look forward to another long weekend. Officials said that the new holiday will officially become part of the schedule of public general holidays when a Public Holidays Order is issued next year, in accordance with the Public Holidays Law (2007 Revision). The wedding will take place at Westminster Abbey.
William and Kate announced their engagement last month when it was revealed that the prince, who is second in line to the British throne, gave his fiancé his late mother’s engagement ring.
The two have known each other for almost a decade having met at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where they both studied. Although the relationship has attracted some controversy because Middleton does not come from royalty, the engagement reveals a slow modernisation of the royal institution and perhaps lessons learned from the ‘arranged’ marriages of the past.
With Britain experiencing a period of austerity the wedding is not expected to be as lavish as that of the prince’s parents and more like his grandmother’s ceremony in the post war year of 1947. Kate is reportedly selecting an “unkown” designer for her frock.
As William is only second in line it will not be a formal state occasion so there won’t be a long list of heads of state attending, even President Obama will be resorting to the TV along with more than 750 million viewers around the world.
Category: World News
perhaps this a ploy by mckeeva to get an invite…hence another trip away….
What a display of ignorance. It is not Cayman or Mckeeva that set the holiday. have all of you forgotten that we do belong to the UK. and no! it is not as infinitum….it’s the wedding day only! God bless this lovely couple with a long and blissful married life.
maybe one of cayman’s fine journalists should ask the gov the following question:
what will be the economic impact to the cayman islands of this public holiday?
What is there to complain about? We have one more public holiday that has fallen into our laps. Just look forward to it and enjoy a day of no work when it comes!
If they divorce in a few years, will the holiday still be a holiday?
CNS Note: Sadly the holiday is merely a one time exclusive offer for 2010 only so even if these young royaletes stay together for fifty glorious years you’ll only get the one day off….
How come Cayman just does not declare everyday a holdiay??
Because people wouldn’t go to school or work and everyone would forget how to spell.
Too late. Your on Cayman!
You’re???
I pray that you are joking with the above statement because your spelling isn’t much better…"Your in Cayman"?? I think you mean "You’re in Cayman"
I thought we were in an economic crisis. To help the country people should work more not less.
By the way if you are thinking on more holiday days, January 8 is my birth day. Can we make it a holiday or do I need to be a Prince?
20/12/2010- 07:52
Yes you have to be a Prince / Princess."And I shall go to the Ball".
Oh no! Not another holiday I am happy for Prince William and Kate but why a holiday. Prince William and Kate looks like two young people that have their heads right on their shoulders and they won’t mind us not giving them full attention on their wedding day.The small businesses can’t afford to give another paid holiday to the employees. Prince William and Kate are aware of the serious economic times. God Bless them and may they have a long and happy life together.
Thank you soooo much Mr Bush your kind show of generosity that will cost you nothing personally will personally cost me about $3000.00 in additional expenses for that day.
You obviously have NO idea of what is happening in the real world.
A public "holy day" for everyone even if you’re not a civil servant??? It just shows you how the government loves to speak for everybody else, pass trivial laws, and impose hefty fines on private entities if not kept. When will they learn to respect people’s freedom of choice so long choices causes no harm to others.
Frivilous yes, but will I take that long weekend and enjoy it, hell yes!
Whether you want to admit this guilty pleasure or not most people are facinated with this stuff, and I will be watching!
Go to work if it bothers you so much, the rest of us will be watch the Royal Wedding, pip pip, cherio and all that jazz!
Author Herman Wouk, in his island-classic entitled Don’t Stop the Carnival, writes the following:
"Meantime, in a fashion, Amerigo [a.k.a. Kinja] is getting Americanized. The natives like the new holidays—Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, President’s birthdays, and the rest—added to the old British holidays and the numerous religious days, none of which they have abandoned. The work calendar has become a light and unburdensome thing. The inflow of cash is making everyone more prosperous. Most Kinjans go along cheerily with the explosion of American energy in the Caribbean. To them it seems a new, harmless, and apparently endless carnival."
Factually, the United States has only five "official" (meaning paid) holidays. Cayman has eleven. This additional one in 2011 will be the twelfth.
Yes, and Americans also get only a couple of weeks vacation a year, no sick time, no health insurance… but are happy to go around the world, spending billions bombing brown people. USA USA USA!
There are actually 10 public holidays.
Sorry you forgot Good Friday & Easter Monday, April 22nd & 25th for 2011.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, the Caymans gave to me – one mo-ore paid hollyday.
Actually, I wonder how many employees really get paid for these holidays??? I suppose if they complain they will be history. Ahhhh well, one more day to add to all the other "unpaid" holidays, medical insurance and pensions………. (Those expats must have been naughty this year)
Those who do get paid – count yourselves as extremely fortunate! Merry Christmas!!!
I’m starting a collection to get them a gift. I was thinking a set of Revere-Ware.
In 1977 Idi Amin said he would visit London with other Commonwealth Heads of State for the Queens (25th?)Jubilee celebrations and that he would be bringing gifts of chickens and goats.
I say we send Big Mac and his usual entourage on a direct flight to London with a load of chickens and green iguanas as wedding presents.
Anyone else embarrassed by the fact that in the year of 2011 the marriage of two individuals results in a national holiday for your country?
yup!!! kinda cheap isn’t it? do you expect better though from a third-world tin can dictator with no education to boot…???
Nope!
The government school calendar has already been confirmed for the academic year ending June 29th 2011. This shows, as usual, a shorter Easter vacation break for schoolchildren in government schools than the 2-week vacation break in the private sector. This calendar has steadily been showingmore "in-service" time for teachers over the last few years. I humbly request that, as this new Public Holiday falls during the Easter break, teachers and government schoolchildren get an "Observed" Holiday in lieu of the friday after Good Friday. Please note that it is one less day for teachers to sort out private business "out of hours" and it appears inequitable that government students are prejudiced against compared with Prep, Catholic etc; Thank you and have a great Christmas vacation, albeit only another 4 (+ 2 half days) working days before schools recommence!
Yes, let’s have a lieu day for the schools/students/teachers. Prep is also on their Easter break!
Don’t forget that students at Prep and other private schools also obtain higher test scores, on average, than the government schools, in spite of having more vacation days during the year!
How can anybody who gets about 15 weeks vacation a year complain about 1 day of it becoming a bank holiday. A lot of others get maybe 10 days a year.
So what if you lose a day to do your admin? You still have 2 weeks off at Easter so plenty of days to do your ‘many important jobs’
Oh but you guys finish at 3 anyway so could do the jobs after work anyway
Some idiots just need to moan no wonder how good they have it
what a bunch of crap, we already have enough extra cost now we have to pay another bank holiday!!!!!!!
Correction to the publishers of the this article – April 29 is NOT the anniversary of Prince Charles and Liady Diana’s wedding. They got married on July 29, 1981.
CNS Note: Apologies we made a mistake…….actually we made quiet a few here have to say royalty does not appear to be CNS’s strong point…..
And how much will this day off work cost the government purse and private sector. This is ludicrous, it will be another paid holiday with majority of the people not even tuned in to watch it or even care about it.
It sounds like this will be an extraordinary one-off bank holiday in the UK – why then would we make this occasion a permanent part of our annual holiday calendar? Nice couple, but he’s still #2 for many years to come.
Unless I am wrong, it sounds like a one-off here too. Each year the government produces a schedule of public holidays for that year, in this case, 2011. Just as election day was scheduled into 2010 but does not feature in 2011, the way I read it, the Royal Wedding will be in the 2011 schedule and not feature again after that.
But then again, you never know… I mean, Cayman gets the Queen’s birthday, election day, Remembrance Day and Ash Wednesday, but the UK doesn’t!
Another small but tangible way that shows that CI Government simply doesn’t understand how serious our economic position is.
Every public holiday costs private sector employers double their payroll cost for those thousands of employees in the tourism and international business sectors who still need to work to keep business going.
In addition, it costs us all additional economic productivity from the public and private sectors from all who stay home, on full pay, without working that day.
The UK get 8 annual public holidays. Cayman already gets 11 (was 10 until one was added for the Quincentennial year in 2003 and never removed). Do we really need 12 in 2011 when we need to focus on economic recovery ?
Sorry CNS but William’s parents were married on 29 July not April…!!!
While I am all for a new holiday (though one would’ve preferred it to fall during the holiday drought between the Queen’s birthday and november), I have to ask: why is this cause enough for celebration that warrants this?
In other words: why not make a holiday of something which is local and worthy of celebration and which has withstood the test of time?
While i wish the happy couple all the best, their marriage has no impact on our lives whatsoever.
Its an official holiday in the UK and since Cayman is a UK territory, the holiday will be observed here too, get over it jeez, you can never satisfy people! If you’re so put out, take you BUNKEY’s to work then!
Yep – just what we need. Companies just love paying their employees to stay at home while the business is closed and therefore not making money.
Can we get a holiday when they have their first fight?
Yeah mon.
How about when they you know….do it?
Or… when they have their first child?
Or buy a minivan?
How about when their baby takes it’s first steps?
i take it back – the monarchy does serve a purpose – please can they all get married next year, and can we also get vacations for anything else they do (divorces, illnesses etc)?
" and more like his grandmother’s ceremony in the post war year of 194"
I knew his Queens Mum was old but I didn’t realise she was over 1800 years old???
CNS Note: LOL!!! Thank you correction made
“unkown”
How much money will the loyal colonials spend to impress Royalty when our Grand premier say we are broke.
Best of luck to Wiliam and Kate………………… May you have many many happy years together.
Not everyone will get a long weekend as some do work on Saturdays
Yay! Long live the Prince:) All the best for your future.
Yippeee!
Now that McKeeva has Cayman back on the road to success and crime is down, I guess small businesses can afford to give their employees another paid day off.
yep just what cig need…another day off…zzzzzz
Not just CIG – everybody gets the day off. Couldn’t care less about the wedding, but I’ll take the day off!
I’m sure anyone who is uninterested can still go into work if they wish.
Umm, the private sector gets public holidays off too (or public holiday pay if you’re in the service industry and have to work)
You might complain but for the rest of us that don’t take a sick day every month, this is a special event and we are grateful to be able to enjoy it and get the day off.
Let the search for a suitable mistress begin!
21/12/2010 Subway cookie.
Could start here,there are plenty to choose from.
Nah, if he’s anything like his daddy he will want a proper chav….mate 🙂