Bearskins, Bagpipe and British Weather

In the second week of June each year British High Commissions and Embassies around the world celebrate the official birthday of HM Queen Elizabeth II. I say official birthday because The Queen’s real birthday is in April! But June is usually nicer weather! This year she was 84 and still going strong!

These celebrations are universally known as the Queen’s Birthday Party, or QBP for short, and is effectively our National Day. There is no set format for the party, except that it is required to mark the occasion in an appropriate way and to toast the good health of Her Majesty. In Kuala Lumpur, the High Commissioner has traditionally held a large reception in his official Residence, attended by all the main contacts of the High Commission. This is an opportunity to say thank you to all our Malaysian friends for their help and support during the year.

 

This year, we decided to combine the QBP with UK Armed Forces Day, which also falls in June and to bring in a touch more military flavour than is normal. A local airline kindly agreed to fly out two Grenadier Guardsmen, who looked splendid in their bright red uniforms and black bearskin hats (they really are made of bear’s skin!), as they mounted guard outside the house. Many of the ladies attending the party were happy to have their photographs taken alongside these two hunky young men! We also had the services of two Gurkha bagpipers, who are currently serving in Brunei with the Sultan.

Guest of honour for the evening – and proposer of the toast to The Queen - was Dato’, Mustapa Mohamed Minister of Trade and Industry, a good friend and someone I have very much enjoyed working with during my time in Malaysia. In response I was delighted to propose a reciprocal toast to HM The Yang di-Pertuan Agong. All 750+ guests raised their glasses, and we were entertained to the singing of the British and Malaysian national anthems by a local schoolgirl with a beautiful voice. Traditional fish and chips and a selection of delicious British cheeses were also served. A Liverpudlian member of my staff was particularly pleased to see that one of these was “Creamy Lancashire”!

Among the guests were Ministers and senior officials, MPs, captains of Malaysian industry, representatives of civil society, British businessmen and other members of the large British community. No-one seemed too put off by the fact that it rained throughout the party, prompting me to remind everyone of a saying in my home country of Northern Ireland: “If you can’t see the hills, it’s raining…If you can see the hills, it’s going to rain!” Typical British weather!!!