Lunch with the Queen
Special Darjeeling tea, honey from J&K among PM’s gifts to the British monarch
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Queen Elizabeth II over lunch on Friday, the second day of his visit to Britain that has seen the two sides finalise business deals worth £9 billion.
Modi, clad in a white kurtapyjama and a maroon Nehru jacket, drove to Buckingham Palace in a Jaguar. The 89-yearold Queen greeted Modi at the grand entrance of her London palace. After l unch, t hey viewed artefacts from the Royal Collection which were brought out especially for Modi’s visit.
“Building on the bonds of history. PM @narendra Modi calls on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the external affairs ministry spokesperson tweeted.
A ceremonial ride in a gilded carriage with the Queen was missing though officials said the intimate setting of a lunch with her was an indication of the closeness of ties between India and Britain.
The prime minister’s official Twitter handle tweeted that Modi presented to the Queen several photographs during her first visit to India in January-February 1961, when she was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
One of the photos showed the Queen cutting a cake in Chennai on February 19, 1961 to celebrate the first birthday of Prince Andrew, while another showed her riding an elephant during a procession in Varanasi.
Modi also presented to the Queen Darjeeling tea from West Bengal, organic honey from Jammu and Kashmir and Tanchoi stoles from Varanasi.
After the lunch, the Prime Minister headed to the iconic Wembley Stadium to address a 60,000-strong audience during the “UK Welcomes Modi” event.