London- The Prince of Wales has edited an edition of British African-Caribbean newspaper “The Voice” to mark its 40th anniversary.
Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, said he “was so touched” to be asked to edit the edition, which will feature interviews with movie star Idris Elba and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the campaigning mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in 1993.
Elba, the Black British actor who starred in “The Wire” and several Marvel movies, tells the weekly newspaper, due to be published on Sept. 1, that a grant from Charles’ youth charity, The Prince’s Trust, at age 16 “opened doors that changed my life.”
Baroness Lawrence will describe a new partnership between the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation and The Prince’s Foundation, another charity, to provide applied arts scholarships for young people from diverse backgrounds affected by social and economic inequality.
Charles said about the publication: “Over the last four decades, with all the enormous changes that they have witnessed, Britain’s only surviving black newspaper has become an institution and a crucial part of the fabric of our society.
“This is why I was so touched to be invited to edit this special edition.”
In his edition, which goes on sale next week, Prince Charles has marked some of the black community’s significant achievements over the last 40 years since The Voice debuted in 1982.
The issue will include:
- An interview with Idris Elba, who has always credited receiving a grant from the Prince’s Trust when he was a teenager with opening the door to his long career
- An interview with Bernardine Evaristo, author of ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ and the first black woman to win the coveted Booker Prize
- An interview with Baroness Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, who has campaigned for years to improve social and economic mobility for people from diverse backgrounds