In celebration of Her Majesty The Queen: “we are friends, and shall remain so”

On Wednesday 9 September, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second became the longest reigning monarch in more than a thousand years of British history.  She has been on the throne for 63 years and seven months.  Although we think of British democracy as old, we have only had universal franchise since 1928, just three years longer than Sri Lanka.  By this test, the Queen has presided over more than two thirds of the United Kingdom’s history as a full democracy.

On Thursday, at the High Commissioner’s Residence Westminster House, we celebrated The Queen’s extraordinary reign and her devotion to the Commonwealth.

The guests, headed by His Excellency President Sirisena, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe, included many Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, heads of the judiciary and the armed forces, as well as MPs, NGOs, thinkers and business people from across Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The turnout and atmosphere, despite the monsoon rains, reflected the huge esteem and affection in which Her Majesty is held across the Commonwealth.  Images of coins, stamps and bank notes from around the world, all bearing The Queen’s head, decorated the marquee – a subtle tribute to our sponsors, Standard Chartered Bank and De La Rue, but reflecting also Sri Lanka’s important role as Chair in Office of the Commonwealth.  Framed newspaper cuttings and letters told the story of Her Majesty’s particularly close affection for Sri Lanka throughout her reign.  A Colombo gin bar reminded everyone how long and important our trading relationship has been, even if spices have since diversified into education, financial services and apparel.

Affection for Sri Lanka and devotion to the Commonwealth were the themes that ran through the High Commissioner’s speech:

“The Queen’s relationship with Sri Lanka is, for her, an especially personal one.  A decision was reached by Elizabeth’s prime ministers at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference of 1952, whereby The Queen would accord herself different styles and titles in each of her realms, reflecting that in each state she acted as monarch of that particular country, regardless of her other roles.  Here in Ceylon for twenty years until 1972 her official title was “Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Ceylon and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth”.  As Queen she spent two weeks here in April 1954.  She made her second visit in October 1981 as Head of the Commonwealth.  Her reign has overlapped with the prime ministerships of all 14 people who have been Prime Minister of Ceylon and of Sri Lanka since Independence in 1947, a number of them more than once.

The Queen ranks her responsibility for nurturing the Commonwealth as one of her most important roles.  Its success is one of her proudest achievements.  Looking back over more than sixty years, years that have seen great change around the world, one can see that her role has been vital and inspirational.  The institution has grown from a small group of nations to an association of 53 independent countries spanning six continents and over 2 billion people.  As head of the Commonwealth, The Queen exercises a peaceful, courteous and trust-inspiring influence over lands that are home to more than a quarter of the population of the world.  Her quiet diplomacy, subtle encouragement and unifying presence over the past 63 years has helped shape this large and disparate group of nations around the principles of democracy, equality and peace.”

The High Commissioner closed his speech with a quote from The Queen’s Christmas broadcast of December 1953, made in Auckland, on her way to Sri Lanka, when she was 27 years old.  Speaking of the Commonwealth, she said  “It is an entirely new conception, built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty and the desire for freedom and peace.  To that new conception of an equal partnership of nations and races I shall give myself heart and soul every day of my life.”

It was a wonderful evening, celebrating both The Queen and her achievements, and the strength and breadth of the UK-Sri Lanka relationship.  I’ll give the last word to Her Majesty, and quote from a letter she sent President Jayawardene in 1980: “Britain and Sri Lanka have had a long association, which has remained cordial throughout all the constitutional changes affecting our relationship, and our two countries now stand together as equal, independent members of the Commonwealth.  We may be geographically far apart, but through our historic links and our common beliefs, we have developed feelings of mutual regard which overcome the tyranny of distance.  We are friends and shall remain so.”

To see more photos from the reception, see our flickr