Sir Patrick meets with Jamaican diaspora before royal wedding

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, on a visit to the United Kingdom to attend the royal wedding of William and Kate, met up with various Caribbean high commissioners and members of the Jamaican diaspora at a popular Caribbean restaurant on Wednesday night.

Sir Patrick, who is on a six-day visit to the UK, was the special guest at a dinner party of 20 held at Jamaican-born chef Colin Brown's upmarket Caribbean restaurant in Docklands, east London.

Speaking to his fellow guests, Sir Patrick said this was his second official visit to the UK, the first being his investiture by the Queen in 2009, "But it was the first time I've been able to engage with a section of the Jamaican diaspora."

Paying homage to the legacy that Jamaican migrants have made to post-war Britain, Sir Patrick said: "The Jamaican community in Britain has a proud record of achievement in every sphere. Our nurses, physicians, athletes and teachers are some of the best you can find. We salute them and encourage them to maintain high standards."

On a more sombre note, he warned: "There are serpents in the grass and I must mention a few of these challenges. Key to the matter is family life. Caribbean people face a common challenge of declining family values."

He went on to make note of worrying levels of crime among black youths in the UK and Caribbean and the issue of underachievement in schools.

The governor general and his wife, Lady Allen, will be guests at the royal wedding today.

Sir Patrick, who is a Seventh-day Adventist, will also be attending Hampstead Seventh-day Adventist Church in north London on Saturday morning.