Tuesday: Queen Of The Bay

It was a public holiday today, celebrating the Battle of St George’s Caye in 1798.  I went up to Belize City for the ceremony during which there was the usual military band, national anthems and prayers that mark these occasions.  

So far, so good.  More excitingly, today also marked the transition from one Queen of the Bay to the next.

The Queen Of The Bay is chosen for her grace, beauty and charm and holds the position for one year.  The outgoing Queen only held the position for a month as last year’s Queen was stripped of her crown following allegations of cyberbullying. So today, the short-lived Queen Keely The Graceful (although there was some confusion as to whether it was ‘The Graceful’ or ‘The Grateful’ - both featured at various points.  I suspect it was actually ‘Grateful’, given how she came by her crown) handed over her crown to Queen Deannie The Charming.

As far as I can see, it involves strolling up and down the stage in Victorian dress with a fixed smile on your face.  I will confess to a slight temptation to giggle when there was some cloak drama, nearly choking the Queen, followed by her crown falling off.

For a country that eschews its colonial past, it felt very colonial in nature.  There is, though, an accompanying song which also featured today……a lot…….

It was all rather bizarre, and definitely entertaining.