Abu Dhabi: The British Embassy in Abu Dhabi held a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, with hundreds of invited guests, including ambassadors and military officers, in attendance.
UAE government officials were also present to mark the special occasion, with Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, and Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, in attendance.
Serving as queen for 64 years, Queen Elizabeth II is the current longest serving monarch.
“We are here to celebrate Her Majesty’s 90th birthday and her United Kingdom. Her Majesty is the patron of 600 charities and organisations, and has had around 16,000 public engagements in the last 30 years, that is in just the last third of her life,” said British Ambassador to the UAE, Philip Parham.
“Let’s ponder what that means … During her 64-year reign the queen has seen 12 [British] prime ministers, starting with [Winston] Churchill, 12 US presidents, starting with [Harry] Truman, seven archbishops of Canterbury, and seven popes,” he added, highlighting the historical changes she has witnessed as queen.
Parham also praised the queen’s role as the head of the Commonwealth nations.
“Let us not forget her unifying role as the head of the Commonwealth, a free association of 53 nations comprising nearly one-third of the world’s population.
“What an example she bas been, and how proud we Brits are of her, proud in our hearts and minds,” he added.
Those in attendance also praised the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Katy Lynch, from the United Kingdom, said the queen had become a popular figure across the world and not just in the UK.
“It’s very impressive when we look at how much she has done, and now that she’s getting ready to celebrate her 90th birthday, it makes it even more impressive, so it’s great to be able to celebrate that,” she said.
“I would say she’s a good example of the royal family, we see a lot of foreign tourists often visiting the UK and going to Buckingham Palace, so she is someone who is popular both in the UK and abroad,” she added.
