A speech by The Countess of Wessex at The Queen’s Birthday Party in Lebanon

I have been warned I may have Happy Birthday sung to me more than once or twice.

Despite its size and scale, the Commonwealth to me is still at heart a collection of villages.

The Commonwealth is one of the great partnerships of the world where rich and poor, large and small, work together for the common good.

Thank you, Mr Prime Minister of Canada, for making me feel so old!

Ladies and gentlemen, I feel enormously proud of what the Commonwealth has achieved, and all of it within my lifetime

St. Paul reminds us that all Christians, as ambassadors for Christ, are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.

It is through this lens of history that we should view the conflicts of today, and so give us hope for tomorrow.

At Christmas I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Christmas story.

Being united - that is, feeling a unity of purpose - is the glue that bonds together the members of a family, a country, a Commonwealth.

All great religions have such times of renewal, moments to take stock before moving on to face the challenges which lie ahead.

A life of public service is an honourable calling.

My hope this Christmas is that the Christian spirit of reconciliation may burn as strongly in our hearts during the coming year.

In the United Kingdom we have our own particular sorrows in Northern Ireland and I want to send a special message of sympathy to all those men, women and children who have...

My message today is one of encouragement and hope.

Then Christmas comes, and once again we are reminded that people matter, and it is our relationship with one another that is most important.

The true celebration of diversity involves reaching out, recognising and embracing difference, and in so doing enriching our lives.

We celebrate the ties between our two countries and prepare to take them to ambitious new heights.

Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones; my own is no exception. But I thank you all, and the many others at home and overseas, for your touching messages of great...