HM Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th Birthday and Commemorating Shakespeare

I was pleased to welcome a large number of guests to celebrate the Queen’s 90^th birthday,  at the British Ambassador’s Residence. The Queen’s Birthday party or QBP, as we call it in the Embassy, is an event hosted by all posts across the world to celebrate and cement relations between the UK and the corresponding country. This year we were lucky enough to celebrate our national day with the Minister of Education and the Minister of Culture as Guests of Honour. The theme was ‘Shakespeare Lives’.

Throughout the world, Britain is celebrating ‘Shakespeare Lives’, to mark the enduring impact of Britain’s (and we Brits would argue the world’s!) most famous playwright.  The British Council and the British Government’s GREAT campaign have organised an unprecedented global programme of events and activities celebrating his work. Last year, the Globe Theatre launched the Globe2Globe World Tour – a touring troupe of British actors who set off on a two-year journey to perform Hamlet in every single country in the world – here in Addis Ababa in January and at the Markazi Refugee Camp Djibouti to name but two. In recent weeks we’ve interviewed Ethiopian artists, such as Abebe Balcha and Tewodros Tessema , about their well-known portrayals of Shakespearean roles. And at the QBP we had scenes from Hamlet performed in Amharic – see some of the pictures below!

Back to the Queen. Her Majesty has served us tirelessly for 63 years and her enduring energy and duty to her country are a model for us all. Last year, she carried out 340 royal engagements; in the course of her reign, she has completed well over 15,000.She has answered more than three and a half million letters, and sent 540,000 telegrams (which puts me and my complaints about the size of my inbox to shame!). She has held weekly evening meetings with twelveBritish Prime Ministers. For the British people she is has provided a rock of stability, continuity and pride through good and bad times for over six decades. Here’s to many more QBPs to come!