British in UAE celebrate Queen's 86th birthday

Dubai: In Hyde Park, London, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun salute to observe the 86th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

In Dubai, hundreds of invitation-only guests poured into the British Embassy on Dubai Creek to raise a birthday toast to the second longest serving sovereign — after Queen Victoria — in British history.

Guy Warrington, Consul General at the British Embassy in Dubai, said this year's Queen's Birthday Party was a special one given that it came in her 60th year of rule.

Important

"This is a particularly important year for Her Majesty and one in which, more than ever, we should be sending her our regards," Warrington said in an address at the evening gala on Wednesday.

"The Diamond Jubilee in June marks 60 years of Her Majesty the Queen's Accession to the throne in 1952."

To ring in the first of two birthday celebrations for the Queen — the latter is held in June during warmer weather in the UK — the British Embassy was draped in Union flags and flanked by the band of the Royal Marines whose horn section played the national anthem. Donning crisp white military attire, the band later performed a marching exercise.

Unique presentation

The ceremony was attended by an entourage of high-ranking Emiratis including Rashid Ahmad Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, who helped Warrington cut the birthday cake on the manicured lawns of the embassy compound.

A highly unique presentation of the evening, a holographic portrait of Her Majesty — who celebrates her birthday privately on April 21 — was on display for birthday well-wishers.

Warrington noted that the portrait, called Equanimity, was fashioned by artist Chris Levine and holographer, Rob Munday, after being commissioned by Jersey Heritage. The piece is only one of four in existence.

"The original version of this portrait has been exhibited at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace and will feature as the lead image in the National Portrait Gallery's touring Jubilee exhibition, The Queen: Art and Image, throughout the United Kingdom," Warrington said. "We are very grateful to the government of Jersey for bringing the work to us today and to its representative here today Senator Ozouf."

Embassy guest Charles Musallam, 29, of Lebanon, is a Bentley sales specialist who found the art work compelling.

"It really is something, it looks so real, as if the Queen is coming right out of the picture," he said.

One of the biggest British embassies in the world

Dubai's Consul General noted that it was fitting to observe the occasion given that the Dubai Embassy "operates one of the biggest consular operations in the world to support the British community here," estimated to top 100,000 people in the UAE.

Connections between the UK and Dubai remain strong, he said, linked through high-level business connections that prove beneficial on both sides.

As many as one million people visit the UAE from the UK every year, he said.

"Trade and Investment is at the heart of the relationship between the UK and UAE and the figures speak for themselves," he said. "Trade in goods and services was £10 billion [Dh36.7 billion] in 2011, and our two governments have pledged to reach a bilateral trade goal of £12 billion by 2015."