The queen, 95 years old and not hearing them. A ceremonial photo of Elizabeth II was enough to steal once again the scene from the Great Ones of the Earth, gathered around her almost like schoolchildren at the end of the first day of the G7 summit in British presidency underway in Cornwall. Her Majesty, on her first exit out of London or Windsor Castle after the death of her beloved Prince Consort Philip, her life partner for more than 73 years, willingly and without apparent difficulty of movement, lent herself to the umpteenth liturgy of the group portrait of her long reign: in the center of the lens, in a floral dress and white gloves, and with the heads of state and government lined up diligently at her side or behind her.
He exchanged a few words with Boris Johnson, seated on his left, while on his right Emmanuel Macron looked almost intimidated. Once the photo was taken, she then got up without help walking in front of the squad, while at her side Angela Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen smiled at her, exchanging nods of assent and admiration like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country remains under his crown. And American President Joe Biden found himself disappearing into the background for once.
The ceremony took place on the sidelines of the visit of the leaders to the Eden Project, an eco-friendly tourist complex supported by the foundation headed by Prince Charles, who was then heir to the throne (and pioneer of environmentalism) give guests a short speech on the importance of the ecological and climatic issues for the future of humanity. The event was also attended, as announced, by the wife of Charles, Camilla, and his eldest son William, second in the line of succession to the crown, with his wife Catherine (Kate).
The rare joint presence of three generations of royalty in an away date with foreign guests was highlighted by the British media as a sign of the Johnson government’s willingness to leverage the Windsor’s “soft diplomacy” weapon in this particular way. occasion, despite recent family tensions with ‘rebels of America’ Harry and Meghan.
