The King and The Queen Consort celebrate British East and South-East Asian Communities at Buckingham Palace

The King and The Queen Consort have hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the contribution of East and South-East Asian communities to the United Kingdom.

Their Majesties were joined by other members of the Royal Family, including The Princess Royal, The Earl of Wessex, The Duke of Kent, The Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra, who greeted and spoke with guests spanning a range of fields from the Armed Forces, to the Arts, to Business, to Healthcare, and more.

The reception took place shortly after Lunar New Year, a festival celebrated by Chinese, South Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Lao, Thai, Mongolian, Bruneian, Indonesian, Japanese, Cambodian, Filipino and East Timorese communities around the world.

In February 2022, The King and The Queen Consort, when they were The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, visited Chinatown in London to mark the festival. Welcomed by a display of dancing lions, Their Majesties visited local shops, organisations and communities, and The King joined a conversation about hate crime towards the Chinese and wider East and South-East Asian Communities. Meanwhile, The Queen Consort visited the Chinese Information and Advice Centre where she met police officers, immigration case workers and clients.