8th June 2016
Like other embassies and high commissions around the world, the British Embassy to the Holy See took the opportunity this week to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday. In traditional British fashion, our garden party was accompanied by a downpour of rain, but it didn’t appear to dampen the spirits of the many guests […]
9th September 2015
This blog needs no other title. We all know who we mean when we speak of The Queen. And there is plenty of information around the web at the moment (the BBC, for example, has many fascinating details about Her Majesty’s reign on its website). At 63 years seven months and counting, The Queen this […]
22nd February 2015
– Guest blog by Hala Elhaj, Media Officer at the British Embassy in Khartoum – This month marks the 50th anniversary of the state visit of Queen Elizabeth to Sudan. On the 8th February 1965 Queen Elizabeth landed in Khartoum. She arrived at a time of great political tensions yet despite this Sudan gave Her […]
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3rd April 2014
Back in February, I wrote about the significance of the relatively few meetings over the years between British monarchs and Popes, not least The Queen’s own encounters with four different Popes since 1951. Each in its way has served as a milestone in the development of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the Holy […]
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5th February 2014
It is great news that The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican in April this year. It will be Her Majesty’s fifth visit to the Vatican, and the seventh occasion on which The Queen has met a reigning Pope. Her Majesty of course met Popes John Paul II […]
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28th September 2012
Australian painter Ralph Heimans has just produced a wonderful new portrait of Her Majesty, depicting the Queen standing in the spot in Westminster Abbey where she was crowned. I was delighted to attend the launch of this spectacular painting at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, by Her Majesty’s representative in Australia, Governor General HE […]
8th June 2012
In Newcastle, New South Wales, watching Scotland play Australia at Rugby. I don’t think I’ve ever attended a sports match played in such adverse weather conditions: a massive storm brought high gusting winds and driving rain. All the points came from penalties, and to the enormous satisfaction of their band of dedicated followers, a gritty […]
5th June 2012
This is a week of celebration in the United Kingdom and across the 15 independent realms of which The Queen is Head of State (including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica). We are celebrating Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. And in so doing, we are also celebrating the stability and evolution of the British […]