The 76th birthday of King Charles III was celebrated in the ample British Embassy residence gardens last Thursday, November 14 (which happened to be the actual date of the monarch’s birth).
The festivities were joined by some 1,000 guests, including government ministers Patricia Bullrich (Security) and Mariano Cúneo Libarona) (Justice) among other politicians, leading figures of the business world, diplomats (including outgoing United States Ambassador Marc Stanley, with whom this newspaper’s editors had an extended chat), distinguished academics, artists, journalists and members of civil society.
During her speech (abbreviated on behalf of those who did not want to miss that night’s Argentina-Paraguay match), British Ambassador Kirsty Hayes, who ends her mission here in mid-2025, pushed both feminist and libertarian buttons.
After pointing out that for the first time the Embassy had a completely female helm (being seconded by Bhavna Sharma with Group Captain Sally Cawdery as defence attaché), Hayes enthused about the word “liberty much voiced this year” (“a poem in three syllables”), repeated thrice in the Argentine national anthem (“libertad, libertad, libertad”) and the name of her eldest daughter.
The ambassador then listed various freedoms – freedom of thought, free enterprise, freedom to vote, a free press, the freedom to love without regard for gender and free choice “over our own bodies” – while refraining from commenting that some of these freedoms might be more to the taste of the Javier Milei libertarian government and others less so, especially the last three.
On a more impersonal note (after pointing out that she had visited all 23 provinces) the envoy highlighted that the bilateral relationship had been expanded to new levels, including granting a record number of Chevening scholarships to Argentines and a successful mining investment mission of almost 70 persons (among them, five provincial governors and two secretaries of state).
But what especially moved her was the Humanitarian Project to identify the Argentine soldiers killed in the 1982 South Atlantic war and buried in the Argentine Cemetery in Darwin on the (Malvinas) islands, requesting a special applause for Geoffrey Cardozo, Julio Aro and all others driving this project.
“I know that, as in any bilateral relationship, we will not agree about everything but I can guarantee you one thing – the United Kingdom wants to support Argentina in recovering its deserved position of prosperity and world leadership,” the Scottish-born ambassador affirmed, adding that if President Milei sought to return the nation to its “golden age,” it was no accident that Great Britain was Argentina’s most important trade partner in that period.
In honour of the commitment of King Charles III to the care of the environment, the Embassy had taken the decision “to paint the party green,” Hayes said in conclusion, compensating its carbon footprint via Carbon Neutral+, recycling the plastic with the aid of City Hall and giving each departing guest a souvenir plant among other features.
Both the catering and the music offered a broad diversity reflecting Britain today. The bites took in both the best of Argentine beef and numerous vegan options, exotic curry puffs and such traditional English fare as toad in the hole, all washed down with gin, whisky, wine and other less potent beverages.
The music ranged from Royal Academy of Music graduate Lucila Gandolfo singing both national anthems to an extremely loud tribute to The Rolling Stones by the group Mr Kite, the Orquesta de los Barrios with Néstor Tedesco conducting the talent of slum youth and bagpipe music from the Highland Thistle Pipe Band.
All with the support of various sponsoring British companies taking full advantage of this great opportunity to showcase their products and services.
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