Friday the 13th Recast as Milestone
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley says March 13, 2026 — the day the UK lifted the Order in Council — should be remembered as a defining moment for the British Virgin Islands, turning a date of superstition into one of national pride. Speaking in the House of Assembly, he pushed back against criticism from a local blog and called for unity as the territory continues its 'journey to nationhood.'
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has declared Friday, March 13, 2026 a date that should be etched into the British Virgin Islands’ national memory — a day he says transformed the unlucky connotations of Friday the 13th into a symbol of democratic resilience. The Premier was referring to the day the United Kingdom officially lifted the Order in Council that had threatened to suspend the territory’s democratic institutions.
The Order followed the 2022 Commission of Inquiry, whose findings recommended sweeping governance reforms and raised the prospect of direct rule by the UK, a move that had generated years of political tension between the territory and Britain. Speaking last week in the House of Assembly, Dr Wheatley described the lifting of the Order in Council as an event that would be “easy to remember” and of enduring historical significance for Virgins Islanders.
He said the symbolism of the date adds to its weight and urged that the moment be recorded so the territory’s story is told from its own perspective. The Premier used his address to rebut criticism from the weekly blog The Friday Sage, which he said characterised his reaction as “Goliath beating his chest” shortly after the Order was lifted.
He called that portrayal “unfortunate, regrettable,” and emblematic of challenges the territory must overcome on its path to stronger self-definition. “I have always seen myself as a David fighting against Goliath,” Dr Wheatley told legislators. “And the Virgin Islands itself has always been a David fighting against Goliath.
That is the essence of the Virgin Islands story.” He warned that the threat represented by the Order in Council was a modern-day Goliath: a moment when some residents lost faith in elected government and even supported handing leadership entirely to the Governor. Dr Wheatley said the lifting of the Order should prompt greater unity and cooperation among Virgin Islanders as they continue what he described as a “journey to nationhood.” The Premier also stressed the importance of documenting events like this for future generations, invoking the proverb: “Until lions tell their own stories, the hunt will always be glorified.” For many residents, the March 13 milestone marks not only an end to a period of external oversight but also an opportunity to rebuild trust in local institutions and to shape the territory’s political narrative going forward.
Primary source: BVI News