This Thursday 16 June, the British Embassy in La Paz will hold its annual Queen’s Birthday Party to celebrate the ascension to the throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It is an opportunity for the embassy to thank the many Bolivians, British, and people of other nationalities who help us in our work over the year, and also to tell a little bit more about what we do here in Bolivia. This year, you can read about our work in a Special Supplement we have prepared, which will appear in La Razon on 16 June [link?].
It is also an opportunity to celebrate the role and work of our Head of State. Next year The Queen will commemorate her diamond jubilee, or 60 years on the throne in the service of the British people (and, incidentally, of the 15 other democratic states across the world of which she is head of state). It is an extraordinary achievement. How many of us work for 60 years, with no thought of retirement, facing a heavy and public schedule every day of our lives. It is no surprise that The Queen’s consort, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, who has supported The Queen throughout her reign, mentioned last week on his 90th birthday that he is looking forward to taking it a little easy from now on.
The Queen is not a politician. She does not do her job out of desire for power, or for remuneration. She does it out of duty. As the recent extraordinary State Visit to Ireland demonstrated, what she says and does matters, and can make a historic difference to our relationships with other countries. She also, through the institution of the monarchy, provides an essential point of reference and stability for the nation as it evolves as it has done over the 60 years of her reign – a reign which has seen 12 British Prime Ministers, 12 US Presidents, and 24 Bolivian Presidents! She may sometimes feel like putting her feet up. But there are no signs that she is planning to do so yet.