Empire Windrush: King and Queen host reception to celebrate 75th anniversary

King Charles III hailed the Windrush generation’s “immeasurable” impact, as he and the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 21 June to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush.

Almost 500 people stepped off the ship at Tilbury Docks in Essex on 22 June 1948, becoming the first of thousands encouraged to migrate and help fill labour shortages in the armed forces, industry and NHS.

The King has commissioned 10 portraits of some members of the Windrush generation to mark the anniversary, and they will go on public display for the first time in Edinburgh.