Silent homage is all Greek to us
A MUTED celebration at our embassy in Athens to mark the Queen’s birthday.
We are told that, for the first time anybody can remember, and despite it being Ma’am’s 80th, there was no loyal toast, and the National Anthem wasn’t even played.
“Many of us thought this a bit odd,” says one disgruntled expat. “Normally they play both the British National Anthem and the Greek, and there is always a toast to the Queen.
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“I asked a senior diplomat what had happened, and he told me that the ambassador had decided it would be ‘a bit messy’.”
What can this mean? Our man in Athens is one Simon Gass, who took up his post only last year. A secret republican? “Of course not,” says the embassy. “There were practical issues. It was a very big party and it would have been difficult for everybody to have heard it.”