It was a fantastic night celebrating the LGBT community at the UK-NZ Pride reception 🌈
Pride matters, and we were thrilled to host this diverse, wonderful group to mark the occasion.
Thanks to all who joined and a special thank you to National Grid & @gmcwashington for partnering with us on this amazing evening!
📸 @scottfotomo
This is a significant year for the UK-US relationship:
➡️ 80th Anniversary of D-Day
➡️ 75th birthday of NATO
➡️ 150th birthday of Winston Churchill
It was wonderful to bring together partners from around DC to celebrate these important moments and The King’s official birthday at the Ambassador’s Residence. Thank you to everyone who joined us and all our sponsors who made this night possible.
P R I D E 2 0 2 4
We were so thrilled to participate in @capitalpridedc 2024! Marching alongside the community and showcasing the UK’s commitment to human rights is an honour we do proudly!🏳️🌈🇬🇧
Can we talk about this weekend?
We work together in so many ways but surely this is one of the coolest – celebrating UK-US Friendship with @nationals fans.
A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to see our British Defence Staff:
⚾️ Fly over Nationals Park with American counterparts from the @usnavy and @marines
⚾️ Throw the first pitch
⚾️ Join American peers for a special Salute to Service
⚾️ March on field as a combined British and American Colour Guard
And so much more with our closest ally and friend. #natitude
Another amazing UK-US Friendship Day in the books!
⚾️ First pitch from 🇬🇧 Colonel Paul Bates
⚾️ Flyover by pilots from @royalnavy and @marines , with comms support fom @usnavy
⚾️ An outstanding salute to service
⚾️ And some great baseball!
Congratulations to the Washington @nationals on their win and thank you to everyone who came to celebrate the continued partnership between the UK and US!
British Defence Staff stationed across the US were honoured to attend various moments of remembrance and recognition on D-Day.
- At Arlington Cemetery the UK’s Vice Chief of the Defence Staff commemorated fallen heroes at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
- In Boston UK Consul General Peter Abbott gathered with French and Canadian counterparts at the @uss_constitution to remember.
- At the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, 17 service personnel from all three UK services with their families represented the UK and @nato . UK padre Rev Mark Mander led the Invocation and Benediction.
- In Alexandria, the @royalnavy Attaché to the US attended a special event organised by @sistercitiesint .
- On Long Island, D-Day veteran, William DeGroat, who came ashore on Omaha Beach June 6, 1944, rang a memorial bell at the Museum of American Armour with British Consul General Ben Brierly and other dignitaries.
Today we honour the brave soldiers who lost their lives 80 years ago. We will never forget their sacrifice.
D-Day is one of the most enduring images of the strength of the UK-US relationship. UK Vice Chief of the Defence Staff laid a wreath at Arlington Cemetery this morning, to commemorate this day.
This weekend is @CapitalPrideDC and the Embassy is excited for our 12th year of participation!
Last year, we had an amazing time celebrating #Pride with our friends from @netflix ’s Heartstopper and the DC community. Hope to see you all again this weekend!
Brilliant Betty Webb – the last surviving British WWII codebreaker – joined UK & US defence personnel and friends, to recount memories of her time in Washington DC continuing what she described as “my Bletchley work”.
Via video call to the group in DC, the 101-year-old answered questions and told witty anecdotes about her time stationed at the Pentagon paraphrasing and transcribing already decoded Japanse messages. “It really wasn’t until later that I realised the magnitude of my work” she says. “We were just doing our jobs and didn’t ask questions, although we probably should have asked more.”
Charlotte ‘Betty’ Webb spent four years at Bletchley Park – top secret home of World World Two codebreakers - before being sent to the Pentagon in 1945 – a journey she says took 22 hours at the time. Betty hadn’t been to America before and felt it a tremendous honour to be chosen to work alongside American colleagues.
In a poignant moment with today’s staff, Betty held up a Pentagon guide that she’d purchased in the gift shop at the time, and talked about how special it was to work with US peers in the 1940’s.
The moving video call with Betty was arranged with help of @usnavy section head Angela Weaver and Betty's friend Caroline, after a chance meeting at Bletchley Park. Ms Weaver contacted British Defence Staff, who jumped at the opportunity to talk with Betty especially as a room had been named after her at the British Embassy in Washington. Viewing the Betty Webb room through an iPad, Betty said she was “overwhelmed and delighted” by the honour.
And while talking, she noticed the Intelligence Corps badge she was given for her service - which she was proudly wearing - was the same one as pictured in the 1940’s photo that hangs in the room!
Always great to engage with future leaders!
Students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee gained valuable insight into the UK’s priorities for @nato ’s annual summit and discussed geopolitical issues with our defence staff at the British Embassy in Washington.
The visit was part of the Wisconsin Universities UN Summer Seminar Series. Since 1966, Wisconsin students have studied and met with representatives from the UN, affiliated organisations, and member states while in Washington DC, and New York, to gain an accurate understanding of member states’ political outlook, foreign policy and UN participation.
