Netherlands | King’s Day
Ambassador Smits toasts the King and the Queen
The orange carpet is rolled out for guests
A stirring rendition of the Dutch national anthem by Fleur ten Hacken
Ambassador Smits welcomes Italian ambassador Pasquale Terracciano
Neskovic, Khalid Nadeem and Lord Boswell
Evie Gibbs (FCO ), Julian Evans, Director of FCO Protocol, Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall and French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann
Annette Prandzioch, Chief Operating Officer of the Royal Commonwealth Society, with the heads of mission for Latvia, Belgium, Slovakia and Slovenia
Heineken on tap kept the party going
Polish ambassador Witold Sobków, with Tania Freiin von Uslar-Gleichen (Germany) and Embassy Editor Elizabeth Stewart
Croatian Ambassador Ivan Grdešić gets a Polaroid done
Macaroons in, what else, orange
Austrian Ambassador is all smiles as he arrives
Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps Alistair Harrison, Astrid Smits-Klienen, Ambassador Smits and Ambassador of Kuwait and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Khaled Al Duwaisan
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Dutch delight
The number of ambassadors from across Africa, the Commonwealth and the Middle East joining the High Commissioner for Mauritius Mr Girish Nunkoo and his wife Bibi for their first Independence Day celebration in London was a sign of the affection felt globally for the stunning multicultural island nation.
Quoting Mark Twain, High Commissioner Nunkoo said “God created Mauritius first, then copied it and named that copy heaven.”
But the High Commissioner also said his slice of paradise was a “work in progress”. Sharing his country’s ‘Vision 2030’ he said Mauritius was aiming to reinvent itself from a small developing island state, vulnerable to external shocks such as climate change, to a well-governed, export-driven, knowledge-based High Income country by 2030 complete with smart cities, education hubs and first-class infrastructure.