Her Majesty will be joined by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and also the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for the evening gathering. It will be the Queen’s first meeting with any foreign leaders since the start of the COVID crisis, during which time she has resided mainly at Windsor Castle and recently mourned the passing of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, who had he lived would have been 100 years old this week.
While the visit to Cornwall will demonstrate the Royal Family’s important diplomatic role in promoting ‘Brand Britain’, it will be brief as tomorrow morning will see the Queen and Royal Family back in Windsor for the pageantry of the Trooping of the Colour ceremony marking Her Majesty’s official 95th birthday and which are due to be televised by the BBC.
During the course of today in Cornwall, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is due to meet First Lady of the United States of America Dr Jill Biden, though the location for this meeting is being kept secret. Kate will then join the Queen and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall for an event to mark the Big Lunch initiative – which is timely as it was announced last week that a Big Jubilee Lunch will form part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in a year’s time in June 2022.
The Big Lunch initiative is actually co-ordinated from the Eden Project and sees neighbours across the country getting together in June each year for a simple act of community, friendship and fun, so helping to build a greater sense of community spirit.
Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses are also due to meet local volunteers and thank them for all their hard work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Also in Cornwall today, Prince Charles will have an important role focused on a cause close to his heart over many decades when he hosts a reception for the G7 leaders plus CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies to discuss how the private sector can work with governments can tackle the climate emergency. The Prince has described this as a “potentially game-changing opportunity”. Prince William will also be joining his father for the reception.
Earlier in the week, ahead of this meeting, the Duke of Cornwall met the company CEOs at St James’s Palace in London and was joined by the US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, and president of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference Alok Sharma. The CEOs have all signed up to Prince Charles’ Terra Carta – Latin for ‘Earth Charter’ – a set of principles designed to be a roadmap for a greener future for the World.
The CEOs represent such concerns as the Bank of America, HSBC, NatWest, AstraZeneca and Heathrow Airport, plus sectors such as transport, banking, pharmaceuticals and fashion.