The King is to visit the United States on a state visit (Image: Getty)
Falkland Islanders have issued a five-word demand to King Charles III after a memo reportedly suggested the United States might review its support for British sovereignty over the archipelago. The document suggested that European “imperial possessions” could be investigated, which would also include British overseas territories in the South Atlantic. This comes after President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” with the level of support Britain has given during the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
Patrick Watts MBE, 81, was radio station manager in Stanley when Argentina invaded in 1982. He continued broadcasting quietly even after soldiers entered his studio. Mr Watts was presented his MBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II, who, he said, showed no emotion but spoke to him in an “affectionate manner”.
He told The Express that the King needed to “step up”. Mr Watts said: “It is very, very disappointing, and it would appear to be retaliation for the UK not giving the US all the support they asked for in the attack on Iran.”
He said: “The Falklands never had an indigenous population, and Britain settled them, and all our ancestors came from Britain to fly the flag for Great Britain.” The former broadcaster also mentioned the 2013 referendum, during which 99.8% of voters chose to remain a British territory.
Asked if he was surprised by the president’s move, Mr Watts said: “Nothing. donald trump Do these days shake me at all? I mean, you never know what you’ll wake up to find, what Trump has suddenly announced about.”
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Mr. Watts was forced to read orders over the radio by Argentine soldiers (Image: Raphael Vollmann)
He added, “I’m more amazed that the American people voted him in as president. I still can’t understand why the American people are not concerned about him today, about his erratic behavior.”
Mr Watts told Mr Trump: “Please leave the Falklands alone. “We are a peaceful community, an economically autonomous community that wants to remain British, and have no desire to turn over to another regime, or under the control of another country. Leave us out of the equation.”
He said: “There are people here, I’ll be honest with you, there are people I talked to who were very concerned about what might happen, because Trump went into Venezuela, and got what he wanted there, and then he, suddenly out of the blue, went and decided to attack Iran, and it looked like things didn’t go as planned there.
“People here, there are people I’ve met who are very concerned about what could happen here.”
The king and queen will be in the US between April 27 and 30.
Mr Watts said: “I would say that if ever the Falkland Islands needed the support of their monarch, this is the time for King Charles to step up and really tell Donald Trump who the Falklands are, who owns the Falklands and what the wishes of the people are. And I hope he will do that.”
Tony Smith, 64, a battlefield guide for Discovery Falklands, isn’t as concerned about Trump’s bombing at present, but he thinks it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Mr Smith said: “You never know how far he’s willing to go for something.
“So, if it becomes a bigger issue, of course, we would be concerned about it.
“Right now, I don’t have much to say.”
He added, “I got a little tired right away because of how Trump is — he’s capable of doing anything, as we’ve seen.
“It’s something we might be concerned about if it becomes a bigger issue or an even bigger issue.”
Asked if it had insulted islanders, Mr Smith replied: “It’s Trump, isn’t it? I mean, I’m sure he’s insulted almost everyone.
Tony Smith is a battlefield guide on the Falklands (Image: Tony Smith)
He added: “It’s a concern for a guy like him, the power he has, how he thinks he can do whatever he wants… He thinks he can do whatever he wants anywhere in the world, right?
“So, you know, we’re probably a small part of that.”
Today’s Argentine government is “a little more rational”, Mr Smith suggested, highlighting that they are “looking for a diplomatic solution to the situation as they see it”.
“Had there been a previous government, perhaps they would have been celebrating today,” he said.
The tour guide suggested that nationalist radicals in the country were “probably getting excited by it”, but “we just have to see if it turns into something more”.
Falklands War veteran Gary Clement MBE, 70, who served as a Royal Marine in the Commando Logistics Regiment during the conflict, is pleased the British government has “come out very strongly” against Mr Trump.
He added, “We just have to live with these things. It’s a constant here, part of living in the Falkland Islands. The Argentine claim is always there.”
“They’re trying to be political all the time now. So, I don’t think it will make much of a difference for us on the islands.”
He does not believe that the President would listen to him, if he were in a position to say anything to him.
Mr Clement said of the overall response from veterans that “no one is taking it seriously”.
Gary Clement MBE is a Falklands War veteran (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
A spokesperson for the Falkland Islands government said: “Self-determination is a fundamental human right enshrined in Article One, Paragraph Two of the Charter of the United Nations. In 2013, the Falkland Islands held an internationally celebrated sovereignty referendum in which 99.8% of voters, on a 92 percent turnout, voted in favor of remaining an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.”
It added: “The Falkland Islands have full confidence in the commitment made by the UK Government to maintain and protect our right to self-determination.”
A spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer said earlier today: “We could not be clearer about the UK’s position on the Falklands.
“This is long-term, there is no change in that. Sovereignty remains with the UK and self-determination is paramount.”
He said: “The Falkland Islands have previously voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining an overseas territory. We have always stood behind the right to self-determination.”
He also said that Britain “has expressed this position clearly to successive US administrations in the past”.
Asked whether he believed Britain could defend the Falklands, he replied: “That’s not the situation we’re in. It’s a hypothetical situation.”
“We have expressed our stand earlier also, we will continue to express our stand,” the spokesperson said.
“Sovereignty lies with us. Self-determination is paramount.”
Robert Midgley, spokesman for Friends of the British Overseas Territories, said: “On the 44th anniversary of the Falklands War, it is unimaginable that our closest ally would even consider making changes to the islanders’ right to self-determination.
“The Falklands have been British for longer than Argentina has existed – and the democratic choice of the islanders must be respected.”
