DOHA: British Ambassador Nicholas Hopton joined more than 2,000 guests of the British Embassy to celebrate the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, with the guests of honour being H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, and H E Ali Sherif Al Emadi, the Minister of Finance.
Also present were leading British sporting figures involved in Qatar, such as double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, members of the British and Qatari communities, the diplomatic corps and international business and government, media guests, plus staff from British schools in Qatar, who also celebrated the strong partnerships between Britain and Qatar.
Guests were kept entertained by Qatar’s military band, Sonja Park and Dimitri Torchinsky from Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and the local band Groove Office, as well as British astronomer Dr Maggie Adernin Pocock, who presented two sessions in the evening.
Speaking at the reception, Hopton said, “I can say that across the board the bilateral relationship between Qatar and the UK continues to go from strength to strength.”
He added: “Looking forward to 2015 I am confident that the Qatar and the UK will continue to enjoy a strong and close partnership. A partnership which covers defence, foreign policy, culture, education, energy, trade and investment, to name just a few areas in which we will be working closely together.”
“On the home front, the UK will continue to offer strong support to Qatar as it works towards the successful delivery of the 2022 World Cup and its 2030 National Vision.”
On behalf of the British government, he thanked representatives of British firms for supporting the Qatar-UK partnership. “With your continued support I’m confident we will take this important relationship from strength to strength, and look forward to an ever-closer partnership between our two countries,” he said.
THE PENINSULA
