Britain’s Ambassador in Buenos Aires David Cairns hosted the first major event of his posting in Argentina on Tuesday, welcoming around 800 guests to the residence in Recoleta for a celebration marking the 77th birthday of King Charles III.
Government turnout was notable for Cairns’ evening debut: President Javier Milei’s government was represented by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger, Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona and Education Secretary Carlos Torrendell, along with a host of lawmakers, judges, diplomats, business leaders and cultural figures.
Cairns, who arrived in the country in September, used the occasion to bring the Embassy’s bicentennial campaign to a close. Throughout the year, British and Argentine institutions have marked two centuries of bilateral ties, a theme that shaped the evening’s programme and visual design, as well with the UK monarch’s birthday.
In his remarks, the Ambassador highlighted key moments in diplomatic relations, from the construction of the Torre de los Ingleses in the early 20th century to King Charles’ 1999 visit as Prince of Wales, including his forays into tango and polo. Cairns also screened a short video celebrating friendships forged across the two nations over the decades as a reminder of the ties that have shaped the relations.
Following the Ambassador’s speech, local tribute band ‘Oeisis’ performed a set of songs by legendary rock band Oasis – just days after the Manchester icons played two shows at River Plate’s Monumental stadium on their reunion tour, charming more than 150,000 adoring Argentine fans.
Diplomatic turnout was notably high at the event, which saw guests feast on a range of British-inspired foods and drinks. In attendance were ambassadors of Azerbaijan (Ramzi Teymurov), Brazil (Julio Gliternick Bitelli), China (Wei Wang), Georgia (Gvaram Khandamishvili), Guatemala (Iván Espinoza Farfán), Italy (Fabrizio Nicoletti), México (Lilia Rossbach), Morocco (Fares Yassir), Norway (Halvor Sætre), Paraguay (Helena Felip Salazar), Panama (Juan Luis Correa Esquivel), Peru (Carlos Chocano Burga), Portugal (Gonçalo Teles Gomes), Romania (Dan Petre) San Marino (Giovanni Maria D´Avossa), Turkey (Ömür Budak) Ukraine (Yurii Klymenko) and the United Arab Emirates (Saeed Abdulla Alqemzi).
One notable attendee, making his first public appearance at such an event, was the newly arrived United States Ambassador Peter Lamelas. DAIA President Mauro Berenstein, Federal Judges Sebastián Casanello, Julio Ercolini and Santiago Ramos, national deputy Esteban Paulón were also seen at the celebrations.
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