The President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was received today with military honors at Buckingham Palace, as he was received by King Carlos III on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British alliance.
The Portuguese head of state arrived at the palace at 10:20 am to be received by the British monarch in the courtyard known as “Quadrangle,” according to a presidency source.
After the performance of the national anthem of Portugal by a military band of the ‘Welsh Guards’ company, the two looked back at the joint guard of honor of British and Portuguese soldiers.
The national force consisted of 18 soldiers, representing the three branches (army, navy and air force), along with an army officer as the national standard bearer and a naval officer as the commander, totaling 20 elements.
The British platoon of the ‘Nijmegen Company’, of the ‘Grenadier Guards’, was identical in size to the Portuguese.
After the brief meeting, the King and the Portuguese President traveled together, by car, the approximately 500 meters to the Chapel of the Queen of the Palace of St. James to attend a ceremony in honor of the 650th birthday of the Portuguese -British Alliance.
The oldest diplomatic relationship between two countries still in force dates back to the Treaty of Tagilde signed July 10, 1372, reinforced by the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Alliance signed June 16, 1373 by King Edward III of England and Alfonso I from Portugal.
The Queen’s Chapel of the Palace of Saint James was used by Queen Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), married to the English King Charles II.
The Anglican religious service lasts approximately 40 minutes and is attended by official representatives of both countries, including Foreign Ministers João Gomes Cravinho and James Cleverly.
The event was promoted by Portugal-UK 650, an unofficial non-profit voluntary initiative that organized the celebration of the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance.
Source: DN
