Celestine Tavernier

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EastEnders character
Celestine Tavernier
Portrayed by Leroy Golding
Duration 1990–1992, 1993
First appearance 5 July 1990
Last appearance 22 July 1993
Profile
Status Married
Home Norwich
Occupation DSS worker

Celestine Tavernier was a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was played by Leroy Golding.

Celestine was a strict disciplinarian and a devout Christian and he expected everyone in his family to show similar dedication to the church and abide by his rules at all times. His unwavering demand for respect often alienated his children and almost caused the breakdown of his marriage.

[edit] History

Celestine was born in Trinidad. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother died and his father left to find work in Jamaica. He came to Britain in 1966, recruited by London Transport, with the intention of studying at evening classes for a white-collar job. He achieved his ambition, conformed and worked hard and eventually got promoted to manager at Walford Department of Social Security (DSS).

Celestine married Etta Tavernier in Jamaica and after the birth of their first son in 1968 she joined Celestine in England, later having two more children. Celestine and Etta and their three children, Clyde, the oldest, and twins Hattie and Lloyd, moved to Albert Square along with Celestine's father Jules, when they were rehoused by the council in 1990.

Celestine was put in an awkward position in 1990 when he discovered that Arthur Fowler was working and signing on for dole money at the same time. He eventually decided that he couldn't 'turn a blind eye' to Arthur's fraudulent behaviour and turned him in to the authorities at his work, but his self-righteous attitude earned him few friends on the square.

Celestine was unwavering with his expectations of his offspring. He demanded respect and adherence at all times, and because of this he found it extremely difficult to relate to his children, who often felt that his strict rules were harsh and unfair. Celestine had a tempestuous relationship with Clyde in particular. Clyde felt that his father had 'sold out' by accepting the prejudices of his bosses who were slow to promote him, whilst Celestine couldn't relate to Clyde's lack of ambition. He was also regularly accused of turning his back on his roots by his father Jules and because Jules never went through Celestine's struggles for acceptance in a white community, he didn't really understand his son.

Celestine was a dedicated Church-goer and spent most of his spare time performing religious readings and educating 'young disciples' in the teachings of the Bible. But despite the fact that he pertained to live his life by 'Christian principles', he often found it difficult to put them into practice as far as his family were concerned, and he was seething with jealousy when his wife got promoted to acting head of Walford primary school, early in 1991. Etta was suddenly in a position of higher status and earning power and his 'celestial' position as head of the house was suddenly put under threat. He began to feel undermined as a man and he feared that he would be viewed as weak and inferior by his children and peers. It was at around this time that Celestine began to grow close to a young student named Yvonne, who he had been mentoring in bible studies. Yvonne wanted much more than friendship from Celestine and propositioned him one night following a blazing row with Etta. It was a testing time for Celstine, but the sanctity of marriage was more important to him and he managed to resist the temptation.

However, his marriage was tested again later that year when Etta decided that she wanted to undergo sterilization in order not to pass on her Sickle-cell gene to any future children (their youngest son Lloyd had already inherited the gene and his life had been severely limited because of this). Celestine refused to entertain the idea, however, as he felt that such an act went against his religious principles. Etta decided to go ahead with the sterilisation anyway, only to discover that she was already pregnant and that her unborn child was carrying a double dose of the sickle-cell gene. Upon realising this Celestine was forced to reappraise his priorities and to agree, unwillingly, to a termination. It was a traumatic time for the Tavernier's, but the ordeal eventually managed to bring them closer and they emerged from it a much stronger couple.

In 1992 Etta was offered a permanent role as head teacher at Walford primary and Celestine proved that he'd learnt from his past mistakes by showing genuine happiness for Etta's success. However, in June of that year Celestine was offered a promotion in Norwich, so the couple left Walford for a new start.

Celestine returned briefly in July 1993 when he found out that his daughter was planning on marrying Steve Elliot and was extremely shocked to find out that she was pregnant. Celestine was also shocked to meet his previously unknown of niece, Gidea Thompson, and he was appalled to find out that his father, Jules, had abandoned Gidea's grandmother - who at the time was pregnant with Gidea's mother - many years earlier.

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The Tavernier family in EastEnders