The Queen celebrates 135 years of the Foreign Press Association

During the ceremony, The Queen made the keynote address and was presented with Honorary Membership of the Association. Awards included Environment Story of the Year, Young Journalist of the Year and Radio/Podcast of the Year. 

Her Majesty spoke of the extraordinary work of the Association in exposing domestic and sexual abuse of women across the world, and the risks taken by many to expose difficult truths. 

Ladies and gentlemen, yours is an awe-inspiring responsibility:  you question, debate and analyse and thus protect what is so easy for us to take for granted – true freedom of expression. 

The Foreign Press Association in London is the oldest and largest association of foreign correspondents in the world and was founded in 1888 when journalists from across Europe arrived in London to cover the story of Jack the Ripper. Finding it difficult to find their footing in a new and difficult city, they decided to join forces to gain access to sources and news, and so the FPA was founded. It now counts over 500 full members and is a member of the UK Press Card Authority, giving out over 2200 press cards a year to foreign journalists working in the capital.

The King attended the awards as The Prince of Wales in 2008 and is also an honorary member of the FPA.