Berliner Boersenzeitung - Pacific Island tribe celebrates Charles's coronation

EUR -
AED 3.849071
AFN 71.56307
ALL 98.465648
AMD 409.468215
ANG 1.893231
AOA 955.718831
ARS 1054.749619
AUD 1.614472
AWG 1.886288
AZN 1.782519
BAM 1.960492
BBD 2.120976
BDT 125.530419
BGN 1.955562
BHD 0.394986
BIF 3103.196944
BMD 1.047938
BND 1.415574
BOB 7.285435
BRL 6.079039
BSD 1.050514
BTN 88.559806
BWP 14.350343
BYN 3.437727
BYR 20539.583235
BZD 2.117468
CAD 1.478023
CDF 3007.581455
CHF 0.929259
CLF 0.037074
CLP 1022.998268
CNY 7.586809
CNH 7.612525
COP 4594.945795
CRC 535.319825
CUC 1.047938
CUP 27.770355
CVE 110.527404
CZK 25.320383
DJF 187.057666
DKK 7.458693
DOP 63.30425
DZD 140.071563
EGP 51.976684
ERN 15.719069
ETB 130.985724
FJD 2.385055
FKP 0.827155
GBP 0.834903
GEL 2.860704
GGP 0.827155
GHS 16.544594
GIP 0.827155
GMD 74.40381
GNF 9052.578203
GTQ 8.111179
GYD 219.775967
HKD 8.155697
HNL 26.545275
HRK 7.475213
HTG 137.878655
HUF 410.760113
IDR 16678.246381
ILS 3.821337
IMP 0.827155
INR 88.337079
IQD 1376.09326
IRR 44105.092296
ISK 145.129213
JEP 0.827155
JMD 166.717396
JOD 0.743407
JPY 161.017234
KES 135.70087
KGS 90.949906
KHR 4216.049598
KMF 491.430873
KPW 943.143731
KRW 1465.744813
KWD 0.322524
KYD 0.875395
KZT 524.545339
LAK 23070.211523
LBP 94069.025555
LKR 305.681556
LRD 189.077086
LSL 18.992854
LTL 3.094288
LVL 0.633887
LYD 5.141304
MAD 10.554058
MDL 19.202956
MGA 4908.747592
MKD 61.56337
MMK 3403.661487
MNT 3560.892996
MOP 8.418247
MRU 41.772186
MUR 49.588583
MVR 16.191014
MWK 1821.559347
MXN 21.56301
MYR 4.679056
MZN 66.935227
NAD 18.992854
NGN 1763.815703
NIO 38.652133
NOK 11.634516
NPR 141.698761
NZD 1.793324
OMR 0.403444
PAB 1.050514
PEN 3.978622
PGK 4.231643
PHP 61.81779
PKR 291.766354
PLN 4.315041
PYG 8184.587316
QAR 3.832098
RON 4.978336
RSD 117.014826
RUB 108.987644
RWF 1434.318918
SAR 3.935285
SBD 8.792818
SCR 14.272552
SDG 630.332048
SEK 11.536377
SGD 1.412348
SHP 0.827155
SLE 23.785419
SLL 21974.73918
SOS 600.330981
SRD 37.195469
STD 21690.199169
SVC 9.191998
SYP 2632.975314
SZL 18.987441
THB 36.352603
TJS 11.197577
TMT 3.678262
TND 3.331979
TOP 2.45438
TRY 36.278175
TTD 7.135076
TWD 34.036696
TZS 2777.035195
UAH 43.594831
UGX 3892.31507
USD 1.047938
UYU 44.775876
UZS 13476.251302
VES 48.817455
VND 26630.722396
VUV 124.413296
WST 2.925414
XAF 657.52431
XAG 0.034524
XAU 0.000399
XCD 2.832105
XDR 0.803523
XOF 657.530599
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.905872
ZAR 18.978345
ZMK 9432.70014
ZMW 28.966322
ZWL 337.435583
  • CMSC

    0.0578

    24.73

    +0.23%

  • SCS

    0.4500

    13.72

    +3.28%

  • NGG

    0.1500

    63.26

    +0.24%

  • BCC

    8.7200

    152.5

    +5.72%

  • BCE

    0.2500

    27.02

    +0.93%

  • CMSD

    0.1200

    24.58

    +0.49%

  • RBGPF

    0.8100

    61

    +1.33%

  • RIO

    0.6300

    62.98

    +1%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.37

    +1.2%

  • GSK

    0.1900

    34.15

    +0.56%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    46.57

    -0.39%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    6.79

    +0.29%

  • AZN

    0.7700

    66.4

    +1.16%

  • VOD

    0.1800

    8.91

    +2.02%

  • BP

    -0.4000

    29.32

    -1.36%

  • BTI

    -0.0500

    37.33

    -0.13%

Pacific Island tribe celebrates Charles's coronation
Pacific Island tribe celebrates Charles's coronation / Photo: Ben BOHANE - AFP

Pacific Island tribe celebrates Charles's coronation

A remote South Pacific island boomed with song on Saturday as hundreds gathered for King Charles's coronation, a momentous occasion for villagers who believe his father was a local deity.

Text size:

The volcanic island of Tanna in the south of Vanuatu is the cradle of the Prince Philip movement, which claims the late royal patriarch as a long-lost ancestor.

A world away from the pageantry at Westminster Abbey, some 1,000 islanders gathered in the lush, rugged highlands to feast on local delicacies and drink shells full of kava -- a peppery, mildly intoxicating root drink that is a key part of Pacific culture.

The verdant hills rang with polyphonic harmonies as men, women and children -- all clad in grass skirts or gourds -- skipped through the village in a joyous display of song and dance.

British diplomats joined them on a special coronation mission, gifting tribal leaders a framed portrait of Charles in a symbolic display of mutual respect.

They will add it to a fading collection of photographs showing Philip in his prime, which have long been among the movement's most treasured possessions.

Acting UK High Commissioner Michael Watters -- who flew to Tanna from the capital Port Vila -- shuffled in at the end of a long procession, flanked by village elders.

"I've been greeted with such warmth and joy by the community," Watters told AFP.

"The ceremony was a wonderful way to pay respect to the unique relationship shared by the UK and Vanuatu."

- Enduring relationship -

Although Philip had a reputation for culturally-insensitive gaffes, he treated the movement and its followers with sincerity and respect.

He wrote them letters, sent them signed photographs and even sat down with leaders at Windsor Castle for a private meeting in 2007.

His death in 2021 shook the island of Tanna, prompting much soul-searching among tribal elders concerned about the future of their "kastom", or customary beliefs.

Anthropologist Kirk Huffman -- the former curator of Vanuatu's national museum -- said the gifts from British officials would infuse Saturday's celebrations with a deeper significance.

"That will probably signify (to the villagers) that Prince Charles wants the relationship to continue," he told AFP.

The Prince Philip movement can be traced back to the 1970s, when the Duke of Edinburgh visited the former British and French colony then known as the New Hebrides.

Although the origins remain murky to outsiders, anthropologists believe this fulfilled an age-old prophecy about the return of a pale-skinned son.

Some believed he had set off from Tanna before World War II to marry the most powerful woman in the world.

"There's a whole series of clans that would have been waiting for this mythological person to return," Huffman said.

The Prince Philip movement is concentrated in the villages of Yaohnanen and Yakel, which are accessed through a gruelling jungle track.

Both lie close to the active volcano Mount Yasur, in a region famous for both its rich traditions of storytelling and spiritualism.

Huffman said their beliefs were easily misunderstood, and often lazily associated with Western notions of a "white god".

(K.Lüdke--BBZ)