The island of Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems, and the power of self-determination. It is part of the ancient Duchy of Normandy, and is ruled by the Duke of Normandy—a title held by the reigning Monarch of the United Kingdom, though unrelated to those duties as king or queen of the UK.
Jersey has an international identity separate from that of the UK but the United Kingdom is constitutionally responsible for the defence of Jersey.
link During the Second World War Germany feared that the UK would use the island as a base to invade Europe and so it occupied the island to prevent this.
The Freedom Tree statue
The 18-foot-high 3 1/2-ton bronze Freedom Tree forms the centrepiece of a public area called La Pieche de L'Av'nin - Place of the Future - overlooking the Elizabeth Marina.
The area was being redeveloped at the time and the statue forms a centrepiece for the area.
The tree has 12 acorns which represent the 12 parishes of the island. The tree was designed by Richard Perry and he he collaborated with Linda Rose Parkes a Jersey born poet. When deciding a theme for the poem she said that she thought about the Liberation monument that had been erected on the 50th Anniversary of the liberation and felt that it was now time to look forward to the future.
The poem, the text of which can be seen on Linda Rose Parkes
website is engraved on the stone steps of the platform that the tree stands on.
There is also a stone tablet next to the tree with the following text.
FREEDOM TREE
UNVEILED BY
Her Majesty The Queen
on 9th May 2005
The sculpture and poem were
commissioned to commemorate the
60th anniversary of the Liberation
of the people of Jersey.
The tree represents, freedom, peace
and hope for the future.
Jersey Public Sculpture Trust
Her Majesty The Queen
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the constitutional monarch of sixteen realms of the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is also Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Upon her accession on 6 February 1952, Elizabeth became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistanand Ceylon. Her coronation the following year was the first to be televised. From 1956 to 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Today, in addition to the first four of the aforementioned countries, Elizabeth is Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, andSaint Kitts and Nevis. She is the longest-lived and, after her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria, the second longest-reigning British monarch.
Elizabeth has held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, is Sovereign of many orders in her own countries, and has received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms she has a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Jamaica and her other realms and territories in Jamaica, Queen of Australia and her other realms and territories in Australia, etc.
In the Island of
Jersey which is a Crown dependencies rather than separate a realm, she is known as Duke of Normandy.
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