Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič and his wife Silvia welcomed Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in Bratislava as they arrived for a two-day official visit to Slovakia on October 23.
An initial welcoming ceremony took place in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace. Despite cold weather, hundreds of people turned out to witness the first-ever visit of a ruling British monarch to Slovakia. Eager to see the royal couple, the first people began gathering in front of the Presidential Palace, before 11am.
The British and Slovak delegations, headed by British Foreign Minister David Miliband and his Slovak counterpart Ján Kubiš respectively, held talks on the sidelines of the visit.
In the early afternoon, the Queen met Bratislava citizens during a walk in the Primate’s Square and the Main Square of the Old Town. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
