Earlier this week seven of us pledged our allegiance to the United Kingdom, becoming new citizens. For the group of us—two from Italy, one each from Australia, Ghana, Eastern Europe and South Asia (I didn’t get to meet those last two to find out their specific birth countries), and me—this was the day we officially became British, establishing our rights and responsibilities as citizens.
We had a proper ceremony in the spacious Isle of Wight City Council Chambers, attended by three dignitaries and two County Registrars to confirm our identities, sign the official certificates, and conduct the ceremony itself. The three dignitaries included the Chairman of the Isle of Wight County Council, the High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, and the Deputy Lieutenant.
For my non-UK readers, a deputy lieutenant is a Crown appointment and one of several deputies to the lord-lieutenant within a County.1 Apparently “Deputy lieutenants are nominated by a lord-lieutenant, to assist with any duties as may be required”. This has to be one of my favourite catch-all phrases for work duty descriptions. Attendance at official events and ceremonies like this are a big part of the job.
According to highsheriffs.com, “The Office of High Sheriff is an independent non-political Royal appointment for a single year. The origins of the Office date back to Saxon times, when the ‘Shire Reeve’ was responsible to the king for the maintenance of law and order within the shire, or county, and for the collection and return of taxes due to the Crown. Today, there are 55 High Sheriffs serving the counties of England and Wales each year.” In my completely shallow opinion, if you are looking to hold an office that gets to wear the best hats and frills, this is the one to seek. 2
Most of us had family attending the ceremony as witnesses: my other half and his mother were here with me to watch and share the celebration. Pete of course has been alongside me all the way; his mother Doreen (with his father) is the reason we moved to the UK in the first place. She has been my main tutor into all things British, correcting me when I pronounce words incorrectly, and letting me know the proper way to run a household.
As we were waiting for everyone to arrive, we soon-to-be citizens chatted and asked each other where we had come from, and how long our journey had been to get to this point. I seemed to have been on the longest track, due mainly to changing government regulations in the Home office over the last 13 years. As many of the others were either from Europe (EU) or commonwealth countries, their paths had been quicker, closer to six years. Ironically, if I had started the process later, it likely would have taken less time.
But here we were, no matter where we came from or the route we had taken. Based on our application paperwork, passing the Life in the UK Test and English language requirements, and being vouched for by two UK Passport holders with professional qualifications, we were now approved to become Naturalised Citizens. (Oh yes, and we did have to pay one final application fee, and get fingerprinted. Again.)
When it was time, we all stood up and, in turn, individually recited our pledge of allegiance to the King and his heirs. It was a tiny bit thrilling to hear each of us recite the same words with our home country accents and distinctive intonation. Then together as a chorus, we affirmed our allegiance to the United Kingdom and it’s rights, freedoms and values. We then were handed our Certificates of Naturalisation by one of the three dignitaries. They played the National Anthem and everyone in the hall sang along (they had handed out paper slips with the words to everyone beforehand).
We took turns having our photos taken with the dignitaries in front of the flag and the photo of King Charles the Third. We shook hands with each other and with other family members. And then it was over.
As we walked out of the building, I realised I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had burst into tears over nothing on the drive over, realising that I was a bundle of emotions before we even got to the ceremony. The anticipation for this event had been building ever since I submitted my application in November. (If you want to read more about my journey to get to this point, you can read my recent post about it here). Even though there wasn’t anything to be worried about, it still felt like something might go wrong and I wouldn’t get approved. Or the ceremony would be cancelled. Or, who knows! It had been a long time coming and I worried on principle.
The whole ceremony and time at the Council building took less than 45 minutes. As we pulled into Doreen’s driveway to drop her off afterwards, I remarked that, “The whole thing took less than 2 hours”. “Plus 13 and a half years” Doreen quipped. She was right.
Doreen was the one who dubbed this event ‘BritPop’, her personal shorthand for remembering the name of the ceremony in which I would officially join the BRITish POPulation. BRITPOP.
And so I have. 🇬🇧 💃 🎸 🎵
Thanks so much for reading yet ANOTHER post about citizenship. I have been a bit obsessed with this process of becoming a citizen of another country. The next two steps are getting a new passport and registering to vote. I’m very excited about both, but likely won’t bother you with all the details. Who knows though?!
I also wanted to welcome a few new subscribers that have joined in the past few weeks. I hope you enjoy what you read here. Please know you are most welcome to jump in with any thoughts or experiences you want to share.
Have you ever had a ceremony that you’ve been waiting for a long time? How did you feel afterwards? Were you relieved, exhausted, proud, elated, happy? What else? Am I the only one who cries beforehand? (Oh yeah, I cried a tiny bit when we sang the national anthem: music gets me Every Time. Then I looked over at Pete and the tears flowed.)
Meantime, hope there are signs of spring where you are (at least for the Northern Hemisphere folks; a break in relentless summer for Southern Hemisphere folks). We are happy with just your basic sunshine rather than rain here in the UK.
Until next week, good health and happiness to y’all.
xoxo Sabrina
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Information is from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_lieutenant
For readers from the US and Canada, Wikipedia also states that the High Sheriff is “chief sheriff of a number of paid sheriffs in U.S. states who outranks and commands the others in their court-related functions. In Canada, the High Sheriff provides administrative services to the supreme and provincial courts.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_sheriff
Welcome to the Commonwealth, Sabrina. It's definitely our gain to have someone as erudite and plain nice as you amongst us!
I should think I would have cried too, but more embarrassingly right at the most public moment!
Congratulations! Depending on November, you may have some company in the expat community….