Stephen Wordsworth

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

We celebrated the Queen's official birthday in Belgrade on 16 June, with our traditional garden party.  Having spent the previous week worrying about possible rain, in the end the afternoon was the hottest on record so far this year, and our concern was more that some people might wilt in the heat.  We had almost 900 guests, from every area of Serbia's public life - Government Ministers, mayors, other officials, business people, the local leaders of the main religious groups, journalists, cultural figures, NGO representatives, other diplomats - all the people we work with during the year.  In our 40 minutes on the receiving line, my wife and I shook (or so I am told) some 700 hands, before we passed on the hand-shaking task to my Deputy and his wife, and got free to circulate.  The press were out in force, and I explained to them, as I do every year, why our Queen has an official birthday - it goes back to King Edward VII, whose real birthday was in November but who liked parades, so an 'official' birthday in June was the obvious only answer. 

I also explained that we see this annual event as our chance to say a big thank you to all our friends in Serbia - we are building ever closer cooperation in many areas, not just on big issues such as Serbia's EU integration process, but also many smaller but important things that most people don't know about (though if you read this blog regularly, you will know about many of them by now).  As the sun went down, it got a little cooler, and as the waiters bustled around with their trays, people relaxed.  We ended with both national anthems, and everyone seemed to drift off happily.  Job done, until next year!

Any Comments? - in Serbian or in English?

Posted at 19:10 17 June 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[5]