Marking the official 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, the occasion also fell just eight days ahead of the UK referendum on remaining or leaving the European Union. Marshall explained that government guidelines meant he had to disappoint anyone attending who hoped he might “have something interesting to say” about the referendum, but that he would “recover his voice on behalf of the government after the 23rd of June.”
Addressing the crowd in very accomplished Luxembourgish without notes, the ambassador, who has been in post just three months, said he had been very pleased with the warm welcome he has so far received in Luxembourg. Citing the national motto, he said he hoped Luxembourgers would “stay as you are. Because I like the way you are.”
On a rain-soaked day when the party had to be moved inside the embassy residence from its traditional garden setting, Marshall joked that although the queen was born on 21 April, her birthday is officially celebrated in June because of the better weather.
Then, in more serious tone, he told his audience how much he admired the queen, whom he called “a remarkable woman”, and said he was surely not alone in being in awe of her reign, which has seen Britain move from “the age of empire to the digital age.”