A special Mass to remember the Day of Peace, July 19, 1919, was celebrated in the Queen’s chapel at Saint James’s Palace, which was used by the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, when she married English king, Charles II, in the 17th century,
On July 19, 1919, 15,000 soldiers paraded through London streets via Buckingham Palace to greet King George V to celebrate the end of the war and the victory of the Allied troops,
In addition to the participation of the Portuguese regiment in the parade, Portuguese King Manuel II, exiled in London, was invited to join the British royal family in greeting the troops.
"He made an enormous personal contribution in supporting the wounded, but received little recognition," Bernard Hornung, former president of the Anglo-Portuguese Society, told the Lusa agency.
"This is the first event of an ambitious four-year programme to commemorate the 650 years of the London Treaty, sealed in St. Paul’s Cathedral on June 16, 1373 by Edward III of England and Fernando and Leonor of Portugal," he said.
The treaty formalized the Luso-British alliance, considered the oldest diplomatic alliance still in force in the world.
The event will be attended by a representative of the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Portuguese Ambassador in London, Manuel Lobo Antunes, as well as the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor.
This is an alliance that should have come to an end in 1890.
By Luis from Other on 20 Jul 2019, 15:55
The treaty of alliance should have been revoked by the UK in Sept 1939 when Salazar effectively abrogated it by declaring Portugal to be a neutral country in the war against Nazism and Fascism.
By M Lucas from UK on 24 Jul 2019, 18:38