Prince Charles, Camilla visit UK-linked sites in Cuba | Lifestyle.INQ

OCTOBER 27, 2022

Prince Charles, Camilla
Prince Charles drives a vintage car with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a cultural event in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Image: AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

HAVANA — Prince Charles and his wife Camilla briefly drove a classic British car, visited a statue of John Lennon and cut the ribbon on a British renewable energy project Tuesday, the royal couple’s second full day visiting Cuba.

Prince Charles, Camilla
Prince Charles drives a vintage car with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a cultural event in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Image: AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

They began their public schedule with a short drive in a 1953 MG alongside a park that hosts a statue of Lennon that draws thousands of tourists a year. A local rock band played Beatles songs at the Yellow Submarine, a nearby bar and cultural center.

The couple strolled around the park, sat on a park bench next to the statue of Lennon, and talked with local residents and British residents of Havana.

Prince Charles, Camilla
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, sit on a park bench next to a statue depicting John Lennon as they pose for photos, during a cultural event in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Image: AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa
Prince Charles, Camilla
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, walk with journalist and Beatles’ fan Guille Villar during a visit to John Lennon Park, in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Image: AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

Charles later inaugurated the first phase of a $250 million dollar British-led renewable energy project in the Mariel free-trade zone outside Havana, part of an effort to bring solar and alternative energy sources to the island.

Prince Charles, Cuba
Britain’s Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, left, and Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, smile at each other during a meeting at Revolution Palace, in Havana, Cuba, Monday, March 25, 2019 Image: Ernesto Mastrascusa/Pool via AP

Solar Mariel, a wholly owned British company, is expected to begin providing power to the Port of Mariel and local communities by the end of 2019, and once other phases of the project are complete, will add renewable energy to Cuba’s power grid.

The Cuban Government hopes to have as much as 24 percent of the island’s energy needs met by alternative energy sources by 2030, reducing oil-based power generation on the island.

The royal couple was expected to assist a gala dance performance at the Alicia Alonso Theater late Tuesday. NVG

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